


i can't take you anywhere

by dimolto



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Inconvenient Feelings, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed, Underage Drinking, canon typical random explosions, closest to the canon of the ultimate talent development plan, hagakure's hot mom shows up, hope's peak is regular-highschool bad instead of human-experimentation bad, hotel hookups, set in 2012, sexy crime, the vacation romcom from hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28646001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimolto/pseuds/dimolto
Summary: “One more word and I’m going to drive us both off a cliff,” Hinata deadpanned.“Well, I would probably survive it. Ultimate Lucky Student and all.” Komaeda tilted his head. “But if you really do want to kill me, I’m sure we can find a way to make it happen!”On the way back from the third-year class trip to Hokkaido, the bus happened to leave two students behind: a tag-along Reserve Course boy who, as always, wasn’t quite sure how he kept getting himself into these situations, and an enigmatic young man who was beginning to feel very, very cheated by his luck.Now, if Hajime Hinata wants to get back to Tokyo, he’s going to have to face a hotwired car, 900 miles of open road, and ten days stuck with Nagito Komaeda.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito
Comments: 115
Kudos: 436





	1. prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> or: the gang misses the boat.

One of these days, Hajime Hinata was going to have to get used to the fact that nothing in his life ever went according to plan.

He’d been told on several occasions that he was too pessimistic, and while he was willing to admit that it was true, he still tried to look on the bright side every once in a while. But as he stared blankly at the empty road in front of him, Hinata was beginning to think that even that small bit of optimism had been a huge mistake. 

“Hey, Komaeda,” he said, resignation dulling his voice.

The boy standing at his side turned to look at him curiously, wide-eyed and almost droll. “Yes, Hinata?” 

“Where the fuck is the bus?”

* * *

It all started two weeks ago when Nanami had practically insisted Hinata join Class 77-B on their third-year summer class trip to Hokkaido. Hinata had tried to decline; he was a Reserve Course student, after all, and he didn’t want to overstep. He knew it wasn’t his place to go along with the Ultimates, despite the staggering number of them that he’d somehow befriended. But once Nanami gotten everyone else onboard, Hinata couldn’t resist for much longer - one week later and he was on a boat headed north with the rest of the class. 

They’d spent a week in Hokkaido, and it was some of the most fun Hinata’d had in his life. Today was the last day of the trip, and the class had gone on one final hike through the forest before boarding the bus to the docks. The hike had been referred to as ‘a manly test of courage’ (Nidai), ‘our perilous odyssey through the fires of pandemonium’ (Tanaka), and ‘yay, an opportunity to ditch Soda in the woods!’ (Saionji). Whatever it was, it was apparently too dangerous to go off alone, so each person in the class had been randomly partnered up with someone else. 

Hinata had, of course, had gotten paired with Nagito Komaeda. 

He wasn’t nearly naive enough to think he could get along with everybody, but that didn’t stop his frustration at the state of things between him and Komaeda. Hinata’s friendships with so many of the Ultimates meant he was practically a constant fixture in Komaeda’s life, which was clearly something neither of them knew how to handle. It had been nearly two years since they’d met, and they were still constantly at odds. 

It was obvious that Komaeda didn’t exactly have a high opinion of the ‘Reserve Course freeloader,’ but he also hadn’t tried to kill Hinata yet, which Hinata thought was probably something constructive. Theirs was a strange relationship; constantly challenging each other, disagreeing over nothing at all, and playing games with their words that only the two of them could comprehend. 

The odd thing about Komaeda, though, was that he understood how Hinata worked better than anyone else. Komaeda knew exactly how to get under his skin, and he was so good at it that it almost felt like an Ultimate talent all on its own. Seriously, it was like he had a million pre-prepared insults about the Reserve Course ready to fire off at any given time. To be completely honest, Hinata often felt the same way about himself, but that didn’t mean someone _else_ had to say it.

And, okay, maybe Komaeda wasn’t the _only_ problem here. Hinata had considered that he could probably be a bit nicer, but, well, sue him. He tried his best to be an empathetic person, he really did, but he’d reached his tipping point; if Komaeda was going to try to drive him up the wall at every turn, he was going to do the exact same thing.

The point was, they weren’t friends. They didn’t like each other, and they didn’t get along, and that was probably why they’d ended up lost in the woods. As much as Hinata wanted to blame Komaeda’s luck, he knew that it never would have happened if he’d actually been paying attention to where they were going instead of bickering with Komaeda. _After all, wasn’t Hinata supposed to be the one who actually had his shit together here?_

Eventually, though, they’d stumbled onto a path out of the forest and found their way back to the bus - at least, the place where the bus was _meant_ to be.

* * *

This is when we return to the beginning: Two boys and an empty road, waiting for a bus that would never come. 

It was just before sundown, the cicadas were chirping, and Hajime Hinata was halfway to losing his shit. “...It’s gone,” he murmured despondently. “The bus is really, actually gone.”

“Are you _sure_ you belong in the Reserve Course?” asked Komaeda, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “I would have thought that only the Ultimate Analyst could notice a minute detail like that.”

Hinata just glared at him. “No, this- this can’t be right. They wouldn't have just left us behind.” He frantically pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “I’ll just call someone to come get us, and- oh.” Staring at his phone screen, he saw that he had missed calls and unopened texts from practically every member of his class, including an astounding seventeen attempts from one Kazuichi Soda. 

Komaeda was also looking at his own phone, which Hinata noticed only had one lonesome missed call from Nanami. “...It appears there wasn’t any service in the forest,” remarked Komaeda grimly.

Hinata narrowed his eyes. _“Now_ who’s stating the obvious?”

Komaeda scrunched up his nose, looking affronted. “Sometimes I feel the need to to clarify,” he said disdainfully. “I just wasn’t sure if you were too stupid to get it on your own.”

With a groan, Hinata looked back down at his phone and tapped on one of the missed calls. As he waited for the other line to pick up, he put his phone up to his ear, letting out a small sigh on relief when his call was answered. “Soda, buddy!” he said. It sounded much more threatening than a casual greeting had any right to. “Where’s the bus?” 

“Uh, okay, so, here’s the thing.” Soda’s voice on the other line was very, very nervous. “You guys kind of. May have. Missed it?” 

“You _left without us?”_ Hinata demanded, feeling his stomach begin to twist itself in knots.

“We didn’t want to, man, but we had a boat to catch! We asked the bus driver to wait, but he was all like, _‘No, I have a tight-ass schedule to follow! No, I won’t wait for your soul bro! No, you can’t put military-grade drones in the cargo hold!’_ What an asshole, right?”

_“Soda,”_ he warned. “How the fuck are we supposed to get back to Hope’s Peak?”

“Uh.” Soda paused. “Road trip?” 

“...I’m going to hang up now,” Hinata said, and did just that despite Soda’s loud protests. 

As Hinata shoved his phone in his pocket, Komaeda’s eyes flicked towards him. “...They’re gone for good, aren’t they?” 

“...Yeah.” Hinata glanced back at Komaeda, morbid amusement taking over his internal panic. “Y’know, for someone called the Ultimate Lucky Student, you sure don’t seem very lucky right now.”

Komaeda just laughed hysterically. “Perhaps the bad luck of getting stuck here with you will lead to some extraordinary good luck in the future!” 

Hinata let out a deep breath. “Komaeda,” he said evenly, “we’re going to be stuck together for a while, so you have to promise me that things aren’t going to get weird.” 

Komaeda gave him a small, complacent smile. “I think we both know I can’t promise that, Hinata.”

_Well,_ thought some stupid, traitorous part of Hinata’s brain: 

_At least this won’t be boring._


	2. day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misdemeanor crime, fast food, incredibly awkward bed-sharing - and unfortunately for Hinata, it's only the first day.

“So what, is your plan to _walk_ all the way to Tokyo?”

Hinata continued trudging along the side of the country road, watching the trees as he went. He didn't even bother to look back at Komaeda, who had apparently made it his job to call out snarky comments while reluctantly trailing behind him.

“We’re only walking to the closest town,” Hinata said. (He was _pretty _sure they were headed in the right direction. 80%, at least. It was hard to tell when everything around him just looked like forest.) “We’ll book a hotel for the night there, then start back home first thing in the morning.”__

“Mhm. And how are we planning to _get_ back home?”

“Uh.” Hinata paused, feeling incredibly stupid for not considering _that_ part. “...Call a taxi?”

“What taxi is willing to drive two teenagers for 900 miles?” Komaeda shot back. "Think again, Reserve Course."

Hinata scowled. “Well, we could just take the taxi to the nearest airport, right? There’s gotta be one around here somewhere.”

 _“No,”_ Komaeda said quickly, an odd, frantic edge to his voice. “Not- not planes. Please.”

Hinata glanced over his shoulder, confused. Komaeda was looking at the ground with a strange, scared intensity, and his face was even paler than usual, so Hinata just sighed and kept walking. Maybe the guy was afraid of heights, or something. “...Then I guess we could try to find the nearest train station?” he attempted. “It would be longer than flying, but still only a few days.”

“Ah, well,” Komaeda interjected, thankfully back to his normal, only _slightly_ off-putting tone of voice. “I’ve sort of been banned from the railway network.”

“The whole thing?” Hinata asked, dumbfounded. “Like, all of the trains?” 

“That is what railway network implies, yes.” Komaeda said slowly, as if it was extraordinarily obvious and somehow Hinata was the weird one for not immediately getting it. 

“No trains. Got it.” Hinata racked his brain for another option. “...Does your ban include buses?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

Hinata pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. At this rate, they were going to be trapped in Hokkaido forever, just the two of them. They would live there, and they would die there, and they would get awful matching tombstones there. Hinata couldn’t imagine anything worse. “If all my ideas are so terrible, then why don’t _you_ come up with something?” he huffed.

“We could always drive!” Komaeda chimed.

“What, do _you_ see any car rental places around here?” Hinata replied, pained.

“No,” said Komaeda, “but I do see _that.”_

He stopped in place and pointed across the road. Hinata's eyes followed the gesture to see an ancient-looking car pulled over off the opposite shoulder, just next to the tree line and slightly obscured by the shade. It was bright green, horribly ugly, and the word ‘free :)’ had been etched into the thick layer of dust coating the rear windshield. 

Hinata narrowed his eyes, first at the car, then at Komaeda. “...That seems suspiciously convenient.” 

“Things usually do,” replied Komaeda, seemingly unconcerned. “You’re pretty skeptical, Hinata. There’s no need to be so pessimistic!” 

Hinata took a deep breath, bracing himself. “Okay. Say we even trust this car - which, by the way, is already a stretch. How the hell would we start driving it?” 

Komaeda huffed out a clearly exaggerated sigh. “Leave it to the Reserve Course student to have such a limited way of thinking. Obviously we need to break in!” 

Hinata scoffed at him. “Yeah, and I'm _sure_ you already know how to break into a car."

“I can try!”

“You’re kidding.”

In a wordless response, Komaeda produced a multi-tool from his backpack and held it up for Hinata to see. 

“...Right. Of course you’re not.”

"This is truly an incredible sign of hope!" Komaeda looked both ways before skipping across the road, multi-tool in hand, towards the car. "How lucky for us!"

Hinata followed awkwardly behind him, still vehemently opposed to whatever the fuck Komaeda was about to do. He watched, scowling, as Komaeda messed around near the driver’s side door. But after a few minutes, Hinata felt his jaw drop as a loud popping sound came from the car lock. Komaeda pulled the door open with ease and jumped into the car before climbing into the passenger seat, which Hinata gathered was Komaeda’s way of telling him _he_ was driving.

Hinata stood back for a moment. He didn’t want to follow Komaeda into that car, he _really_ didn’t - but he had to get home somehow, and this was beginning to seem like his only option. His sad, pathetic little option. Gritting his teeth, he went around to the driver’s side and slid into the seat, closing the door maybe a bit harder than he needed to.

“How did you even do that?” he muttered as he buckled his seatbelt.

Komaeda hummed from the passenger seat, spinning his multi-tool in his hand. “Even my worthless talent is good for something every once in a while!” 

_His talent clearly wasn’t worthless if it could help us with something like this,_ Hinata thought, a twinge of jealousy creeping into his mind. But it would be entirely useless to try to convince Komaeda of that, so he didn’t even try. He adjusted the seat a bit and sat up straight, ready to drive, before he realized one thing. “Hey, Komaeda,” he said weakly, “do you know how to hotwire a car?”

The other boy paused, looking at the ceiling. “Well, I could connect some wires and see what happens!”

“Absolutely _not.”_ Hinata had to shut him down immediately - the break-in had already been pushing it, and he wasn't exactly eager to see what kind of chaos Komaeda could start with a worryingly unstable car.

Komaeda turned back towards him and raised his eyebrows. “Like you have a better solution?”

“It would be pretty hard to think of a worse one. We're gonna do mine first.” Hinata pulled out his phone and flipped it open, scrolling through his contacts until he found the right number. He held it to his ear, waited a few rings, and then: “Hey again, Soda,” he greeted weakly. 

“Hinata! I missed you, dude!” Soda’s voice crackled to life on the other line, far too energetic for Hinata’s current mood. 

“...It’s been twenty minutes since we talked.”

“What, is one soul bro not allowed to miss another soul bro? Manly bonding exceeds the limits of time, y’know!”

“Yeah, whatever, miss you too, man.” Hinata rolled his eyes, slightly amused, then asked, “Are you guys still on the bus?”

“For now, but we’re about ten minutes out from the docks.”

“Great, so you have time to help me.” Hinata seized his opportunity. “Komaeda and I found a free car on the side of the road, and we’re gonna hotwire it.”

“Oh, cool!” Soda paused, apparently processing Hinata’s words. “Wait, _what?”_

Hinata pressed on. “And you’re good with cars, yeah?” 

“Well, obviously! I’m the Ultimate Mechanic for a reason, but that doesn’t mean I can just magically do something like _that!”_ He groaned. “I was kidding about the whole road trip thing, ya know. You couldn’t just do the normal thing and just get a flight back?”

Hinata shook his head. “Komaeda doesn’t like planes.”

“Okay, but what about you? You coulda gone on your own, right?” 

Hinata paused. The thought had never even crossed his mind, and he didn’t quite like the uneasy feeling it gave him. If he left Komaeda alone out here, he would probably just worry even more. _After all, who knew what kind of trouble Komaeda would get into on his own?_ “Leaving him is… an impossibility,” he decided.

“Hinata, you’re my bro and everything,” said Soda, “but there’s seriously something wrong with you.” 

_Big talk coming from a guy like you,_ Hinata thought crossly - but before he could say it, he was interrupted by a deep, gravelly voice from the background of the other line.

“Are you communing with the mortal Hinata?” From the way the question was phrased, it could only have been Tanaka.

Soda’s voice got a bit muffled as he turned away from the phone. “Yeah, dude, I’m trying to help him hotwire a car.”

“You’re trying to help him _what?”_ Hinata recognized Koizumi’s chiding voice even over the phone.

“Here, I’ll put him on speaker!” Soda said cheerfully.

“No, don’t-” But Hinata’s protests were too late as he was greeted a chorus of voices from the other line. “Hi, guys.”

“That’s illegal, Hinata,” chastised Koizumi. 

“Do you even have a license?” demanded Kuzuryu. 

“Does the car have a radio?” asked Ibuki excitedly.

“I know it’s illegal, but I don’t exactly have any other options right now. Yes, I have a license, I got it just after my 18th birthday. And yes, the car has a radio, but it probably hasn't been touched since the eighties.” Hinata dragged a hand over his face and tried to ignore Komaeda’s muffled laughter from the passenger seat. “Listen, Soda, can you please just help me?”

“Uh… here’s the thing. If ya needed to disassemble the engine and rebuild the whole thing from scratch, I’d have no problem leading you through it! I could help you fix an old car, or make a new car, or fuse two cars together - hey, there's an idea!" Soda had started using his batshit-inventor voice, the one he used when he got way too into talking about his talent. "A robot made of cars! If you find a second car, I could help you make some kind of giant bio-machine car mecha!"

Hinata thumped his head back against the car seat headrest. "Yeah, of course, buddy, just let me find another car in the middle of the fucking wilderness, super easy, no problem here, _oh wait_ , no, never mind, you're just insane."

Soda sighed loudly. "Okay, okay, I get it. What I mean to say is, this kind of criminal activity isn’t exactly my area of expertise, y’know?”

“If you can’t even hotwire a car, then why do you look like such a nasty delinquent?” called a mocking voice that must have been Saionji.

“Hey!” Soda cried in offense, then turned back towards the phone. “Listen, dude, this isn’t how I work. You know that. I have to get into an engine with my bare hands - push in real deep, y’know?”

 _“Ew,”_ said Saionji.

“Kinky!” called Ibuki.

“Come on, I didn’t mean it like _that,”_ Soda grumbled, embarrassed. “It’s not weird, okay? I just mean that if I was there with you, I could work with the machine and figure it out, but as it is, I don’t-”

“Pardon me, but I believe I could be of assistance here!” Sonia’s unmistakably confident voice rang out over the phone. 

“W-what?” Soda had clearly not been expecting a solution like this. “Miss Sonia...?”

“Sonia, are you serious?” Hinata asked, incredulous. 

“Children as young as eight know how hotwire cars in Novoselic, Hinata,” Sonia declared proudly. 

Not for the first time, Hinata wondered what the _hell_ was going on in Sonia’s home country. “Why would they even need to know something like that?”

“The motto of our kingdom is to always be prepared!” 

Hinata pinched the bridge of his nose. “...Soda, please give the phone to Sonia.” He heard the sound of shuffling on the other line. “Okay, I’m putting you on speaker.” He then turned to Komaeda. “Sonia’s going to guide us through hotwiring this thing. Go ahead, Sonia.”

“This is a complicated and dangerous undertaking for someone untrained in the process, so I must ask you to be careful!” Sonia called from the other line. “The most convenient way to do this would be with a multi-tool, but it would be a miracle to find one of those lying around, so-”

“It’s a miracle, then,” Hinata deadpanned, his eyes flicking towards Komaeda. “Hand me the tool,” he muttered.

“You really think I would put my life in the hands of a someone who doesn’t even have a talent?” Komaeda hissed.

Hinata glared back at him, refusing to back down. “You think I would put _my_ life in the hands of the guy who won ‘Most Likely to Accidentally Cause an Explosion?’”

Komaeda huffed. “I can’t believe Saionji actually came up with an award for that.”

“I can’t believe she made you a trophy.”

Komaeda narrowed his eyes. “I’m not giving you my multi-tool,” he muttered.

“Do you want to get out of here or not?” Hinata half-demanded, half-whispered.

“Ah, Hinata? Komaeda? Are you still there?” Sonia’s voice echoed from the phone. 

“Still here, Sonia,” Hinata said.

“And you… have a multi-tool?”

 _“I_ do.” Hinata shot a pointed glance at Komaeda. “Right, Komaeda?”

Komaeda scowled at him, picking up on Hinata’s gambit immediately. Now forced to choose between letting Hinata win, just this once, and starting a petty fight in front of one of his beloved Ultimates, there was no way he was going to cause trouble for Sonia.

“Of _course,_ Hinata.” Komaeda’s voice was exaggeratedly sweet, to the point where only Hinata could have understood just how biting it was meant to be. He dropped the tool into Hinata’s outstretched hand, glowering.

“Let’s begin!” started Sonia, oblivious. “First, remove the plastic cover on the steering column. You will find three bundles of wires, and you are to select the one leading straight up. This holds the battery, ignition, and starter wire.” Her voice was excited and direct all at once.

Hinata began to follow her instructions, pulling out the wires matching Sonia’s description. “Uh, got it.”

“The battery wires will be the red ones,” she explained. “You want to strip about two centimeters of insulation from these and twist them together.”

Once again, Hinata did what he was told. He could practically feel Komaeda’s intense gaze on him as he worked, but he refused to give him the satisfaction of looking back. “Done.”

“Excellent work, Hinata!” Sonia said enthusiastically. “Now, you’re going to find the brown ignition wire. Connect that to the battery wire.”

Hinata did, and the car started up. “It worked!” 

“Hella boss! Now, to drive the car, you'll need to spark the starter wire, which can get dangerous. You’ll have to take extreme caution here, Hinata.” 

Hinata swallowed uncomfortably. “...Okay.”

“Strip the starter wire one centimeter down. This is a live wire, so don't do anything rash!” Sonia warned.

Hinata was beginning to feel very nervous; he was surprised he’d even gotten this far, and his hands were beginning to shake as he picked up the wire. He tried to hold it steady, but the shaking only got worse.

“Hey,” Komaeda muttered, so quietly that Sonia couldn’t hear. He was staring at Hinata’s hands, and there was an odd, unplaceable expression on his face that Hinata had never seen before. “I know you don’t trust me, and I know my talent isn’t worth much at all, but I think… I think I could be useful here. Lucky, remember?”

Hinata hesitated. He was unsure of his own ability to complete the task, but he also didn’t know if he should trust Komaeda with a live wire - but, when he looked at him, he didn’t see a trace of an ulterior motive in the boy’s expression. With a sigh, he offered the wires to Komaeda. “If you’re sure.” 

"This kind of thing is what I was meant to do. Something like this will either go really right or _really_ wrong, but don't worry. It usually goes right." He took the wires into one hand, and accepted the multi-tool in the other. "...Besides, if one of us has to be made expendable here, we both know it's me." And just for a moment, his voice was so resigned and flat that it caught Hinata off guard. He looked at him, carefully trying to figure out a way to respond - but before he could, Komaeda had already begun stripping the wire, deft fingers working quickly. Hinata thought it would be best not to bother him when he was busy with that. After all, luck could only take you so far.

Once Komaeda finished his task, he turned back to the phone. “Ah, what’s next, Sonia?”

“Touch the end of the starter wire to the connected battery wires. Then rev the engine, and once it starts, you may detach the starter wire and continue on your way!” 

“...Be careful, Komaeda,” Hinata said quietly.

Komaeda gaze flicked towards him, eyes wide, as if he was surprised that Hinata would even give an ounce of consideration for his well-being. But then he shook his head, touched the wires together, and with a loud sound, Hinata revved the engine. 

“Perfect!” Sonia said, and Hinata let out a shaky sigh of relief. “Now you need to break the steering lock. Pop off the metal keyhole, which will release a spring and break the lock.” 

Komaeda followed the instructions, and when Hinata tilted the wheel, it followed his movements. 

“Yeah!” he exclaimed, ecstatic that something had actually gone right for the first time that day. “Thank you, Sonia,” he said gratefully. 

Komaeda nodded eagerly. “Sonia, your talent is amazing, as always! I’m overjoyed to even be in the presence of something so hopeful!” 

“It’s my pleasure to help out my classmates!” she replied, her voice full of cheer. “I'm glad we could achieve such an 'epic win' together!”

“Hey, we’ve reached the docks, so we gotta head out,” Soda interrupted. 

Hinata nodded. “See you soon, I hope.” 

“You know it. And Hinata?”

“Yeah?”

“A car robot _would_ be cool, right?”

He sighed fondly. “...Yeah, Soda. That would be awesome.”

“I knew it!” Soda whooped. “Good luck on your road trip!” And with that, he hung up the phone. 

Back in the old, dirty car, two boys sat in silence for a moment before looking at each other deliriously. 

"...Holy shit, we did it." Hinata broke into a grin. "We did it!"

“We actually did it!” Komaeda repeated, smiling widely back at him. 

Hinata offered out his hand for a high five, and it seemed to take Komaeda a moment to fully understand the gesture. But instead of doing the normal thing, Komaeda just sort of reached up and held onto his hand, because he apparently refused to follow even the most basic societal conventions. Their hands were practically the same size, Hinata noticed, but where his was calloused and tan, Komaeda’s was smooth and pale. Komaeda’s whole hand was covered in small scars that Hinata could only presume were from a variety of unfortunate luck-related incidents, and his fingers were cold, and he was _still holding Hinata’s hand._

“Dude,” Hinata said, “let go.” He’d been going for condescending, but the slight embarrassed strain to his voice gave him away. Cursing himself inwardly, he jerked his own hand back just to prove a point.

Komaeda’s hand hung awkwardly in the air for a moment, hesitant, before he slowly pulled back and returned the hand to his lap. “Ah. We should probably start driving now, Hinata.”

Hinata stiffly nodded in agreement as he quickly pulled off the side of the road and got into his lane. To his shock, the car somehow had a full tank of gas, which meant he wouldn't have to stop for a while. It took a bit to get used to the car’s controls, but by the time they were a few miles in, he was cruising down the road with ease. (He was still half-expecting with car to break down in the middle of the nowhere, though.) Hinata had always liked driving; it was something he was good at, something he knew he had control over. The road was smooth beneath the car, and Hinata watched as the tall trees on the side of the road blurred green and dark gold in the last minutes of daylight. The forest floor was covered in wildflowers, painting their bright hues all along the edge of the highway. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Komaeda in the passenger seat. He was sitting with his knees folded into his chest, fingers drumming against his leg as he stared at the scenery outside.

“It’ll take about 20 hours to get back to Tokyo,” Hinata said, causing Komaeda to turn towards him. “So if we can get to Asahikawa tonight, and we each drive for five hours a day, we should be able to make it back home in the next two days.”

“Ah, Hinata.” Komaeda looked slightly embarrassed. “I believe you’ve made a slight miscalculation there.”

“Which is?”

“I don’t have a driver’s license.” 

Hinata sighed, pained. “...I don’t know if I can drive more than five hours a day, so I guess we’ll have to take four days. That’s fine. We can do it,” he said, more to reassure himself than Komaeda.

“Are you sure?” Komaeda asked, his voice suddenly haughty. “I don’t know if I can trust a lowly Reserve Course student to take me that far.” 

“One more word and I’m going to drive us both off a cliff,” Hinata shot back, deadpan.

“Well, I would probably survive it. Ultimate Lucky Student and all.” Komaeda tilted his head. “But if you really do want to kill me, I’m sure we can find a way to make it happen!” 

Hinata grimaced. “Don’t talk about something so morbid so casually!” 

“You’re the one who brought it up,” replied Komaeda, a bit defensive. 

Hinata squeezed the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white before taking a slow, deep breath. “Listen. We’re going to be stuck together for a while, and I know that our track record isn’t exactly stellar, but I’d really like it if we could try to get along on this trip. We just need to pretend to like each other for a few days. It’ll make this thing a lot easier for both of us.” 

“Whatever Hinata wants,” replied Komaeda placidly. It was an obvious diversion, and both of them knew it. 

Hinata sighed, leaned forwards, and said, “I’m not stupid, Komaeda. I know what you think of me.”

“Which is?”

“You don’t think I belong here,” said Hinata. “On this trip, or with my friends, or even at Hope’s Peak at all.”

“Well, of course not. You simply don’t measure up to the Ultimates,” Komaeda replied instantly. “But it’s okay! I don’t belong, either!”

“That’s… not as comforting as you think it is.” Hinata considered for a moment that if _this_ was where an obsession with talent lead to, he should probably stop caring so much about his own lack of it.

“I do think we’re alike on a certain level, you know," Komaeda said slowly. "We’re both spectators to the talent around us. We both like to _watch._ Neither of us have much - or any - talent of our own, despite how much we may want it, and that means that neither of us will ever really belong with the others. The most we can be is stepping stones for their hope.”

“I'm _nothing_ like you,” Hinata bristled. Some of Komaeda words had hit a bit too close to home, and that only made him angrier. “And even if you think I am, why do you act like you’re so much better than me?”

“Because, Hinata.” Komaeda laced his fingers together. “Even if my talent doesn’t measure up, at the end of the day, I, unlike you, am still an Ultimate.”

“Sure.” Hinata gripped the wheel tighter, kept his eyes on the road, and said, “But you, _unlike me,_ are an asshole.”

Neither one of them spoke after that.

* * *

When they finally reached the outskirts of Asahikawa, it was already nighttime. Hinata hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, so he’d pulled the car into a roadside fast-food drive-through and ordered a burger, fries, and a milkshake. Komaeda had ordered a kid’s meal. Apparently he wanted to ‘test his luck’ by finding whatever toy was inside. _Weirdo._

Hinata pulled away from the window, take-out bag balanced on the center console, and found a parking spot near the edge of the lot. (He kept the engine running, though, because he was not ready to hotwire the car again.) Before he grabbed his food, he shrugged off his jacket and tossed it in the backseat, then began rolling up his sleeves to his elbows. He’d just finished removing his tie when he noticed Komaeda staring at him with an expression he couldn’t quite place. Contempt, perhaps. Hinata unbuttoned his collar half out of spite and matched his gaze. 

“Something to say, Komaeda?” 

“That’s, um,” Komaeda stuttered, looking strangely flushed, “O- Of course you would want to remove your Reserve Course uniform before anyone saw you wearing it!” 

Hinata scowled at him. Komaeda had taken off his uniform jacket earlier, but he was still wearing his green and red striped sweater, collared shirt, and tie. Hinata realized he’d never seen the other boy without several layers of clothing on, and he wondered for a moment what Komaeda might look like with his clothes off. 

_Uh._

Not like _that,_ Hinata clarified to no one in particular.

Quickly, he cleared his throat and turned away from Komaeda. “Yeah, sure, _I’m_ the weird one for not wanting to wear my school uniform all the time.” He grabbed his food from the bag and shoved some fries into his mouth as some sort of distraction.

Komaeda picked up his kid’s meal, too, but when he opened it, his face fell. “Ah, bad luck again.” He sadly plucked his toy from the box. “They gave me Monokuma.”

Hinata wrinkled his nose in disgust. Monokuma was the worst cartoon mascot in all of Japan, if not the world. It was like some company had thought, _‘what if Hello Kitty was a half-and-half monochrome asshole?’_ and then decided to put him fucking everywhere.

"I seriously hate that thing."

"Me, too," lamented Komaeda. "He fills me with despair."

"I guess your kids meal kinda sucks," Hinata said, taking a long sip of his milkshake.

Komaeda narrowed his eyes. "At least I'm not drinking a beverage made of lard."

Hinata glanced at his milkshake. “Do you mean this?” He held it up, then paused. “Wait, you think they put _lard_ in milkshakes?”

“Are you… not supposed to?” Komaeda paused, then looked down. “Oh, no. That explains why I’m not allowed to volunteer at the Hope’s Peak festivals anymore.” 

Hinata stared at him blankly. “Dude, what kind of life do you _live?”_

“I don’t think you want an answer to that question.”

Hinata snorted, took a sip of his milkshake, then asked, “Hey, we’re gonna be… okay on this trip, aren’t we?” He paused. “I mean, you’re not gonna kill me or anything, right?”

Komaeda took a sip of his soda, head tilted in consideration. “Not intentionally.”

“Oh, _thanks,_ buddy,” Hinata sighed and reached across the console to grab another fry. “That’s real comforting.”

“...Hinata?”

“Hm?”

“Stop stealing my fries.”

* * *

They found a hotel in town about twenty minutes later. It was a small place, but it looked clean and parking was free, so Hinata didn’t care. He dropped Komaeda off at the entrance to book a room, then drove around to the back parking lot. Dreading the thought of hotwiring the car once again in the morning, Hinata switched it off, sighed, and reminded himself that this would all be over in just a few days. After that, he would never even have to speak to Nagito Komaeda again. Slightly comforted by the thought, he walked back to the hotel entrance and approached Komaeda himself, who was still talking to the man at the front desk. When he got closer, though, he realized that it might have been a mistake to let Komaeda inside on his own.

“...after all, no matter how hard a small dog tries, it will never become a large dog,” Komaeda was saying to the receptionist. “No matter how hard a penguin tries, there’s no way it will ever soar through the sky… which means… unworthy humans will never become worthy, no matter what they do, right?”

“Hey!” Hinata greeted pointedly, cutting the other boy off. The front desk guy looked half-relieved, half-wary. “Uh! What I think he _means_ to say is, can we get a room for tonight?”

The receptionist blinked, confused by the sudden shift in tone. “Is, um… Is the basic room alright?”

“Yeah, sure, that’d be great,” Hinata said, desperate to end this interaction as soon as possible.

He nodded, still seeming a bit bewildered. “Your total comes to 3,000 yen.”

Komaeda produced a credit card from seemingly nowhere and swiped it through the chip reader. When it went through, the receptionist produced two room keys from behind the desk. 

“Room 11, straight down to the left. Your checkout time is 10:00 AM tomorrow.”

Hinata took the keys, handed one to Komaeda, then looked back at the receptionist gratefully. “Thank you. Seriously.”

“Enjoy your stay!” he said.

 _Not likely,_ he thought.

As the two started walking towards their room, Hinata turned to Komaeda accusingly. “I asked you to book a room, dude. How the hell did you end up monologuing to the receptionist?”

Komaeda shrugged. “It seems conversation is a lost art.”

 _“Conversation,”_ Hinata repeated incredulously, stopping in front of door labeled ‘11.’

He swiped his key card through the scanner (it didn’t work the first time, but went through the second) and pulled open the door, Komaeda following behind him. Hinata stepped into the room, toed off his shoes, and heard the sound of Komaeda closing the door behind him. He let out a deep breath, ready to fall asleep right then and there - and that’s when he saw the bed.

Bed _singular._

“Ah. Only one, hm?” Komaeda mumbled. “Such despair…”

For the first time in his life, Hinata was inclined to agree with Komaeda’s cryptic rambling. “You’re telling me,” he groaned. 

Komaeda eyed him shiftily. “Is there... a reason you booked us a room like this, Hinata?”

Hinata shot him a harsh glare. “I was just trying to clean up your mess with the receptionist! How was I supposed to know that _this_ was the basic room?”

“I suppose we could go back out and request a different one,” Komaeda said. “With two beds. Preferably as far away from each other as humanly possible.”

Hinata groaned. “As much as I’d like that - and trust me, it's a lot - we are _not_ bothering that front desk guy again.”

“Well,” Komaeda said, looking away, “obviously both of us aren’t going to sleep here.”

“Obviously,” Hinata repeated awkwardly.

“It’s absolutely repulsive to even consider, right?” said Komaeda with a dark, empty laugh. 

_Now_ Hinata was starting to get annoyed. He didn’t exactly want to sleep next to Komaeda either, but that didn’t mean Komaeda had to be such a dick about it. He just sighed and gave a stilted nod.

Undeterred, Komaeda continued on. “Even the thought of it is sickening! Sleeping next to such a worthless, revolting, loathsome-” 

_“Please_ shut up,” Hinata growled.

At least that got Komaeda's attention. He turned towards Hinata, brow furrowed. “...Have I said something objectionable?”

“You could say that.” Hinata scowled, facing Komaeda and crossing his arms. “I don’t want to share the bed with you either, but at least I’m not being shitty about it on purpose.”

Komaeda narrowed his eyes. “What, exactly, do you mean?”

“I know you think I’m the worst, but I don’t know why you have to insult me about everything!”

“I could simply never even imagine someone willing to be so close to _me_ without feeling overwhelmingly disgusted!”

They'd spoken at the same time, which meant that for the few seconds it took both of them to recognize the other's words, it was deadly silent. Hinata stared blankly at Komaeda as he finally realized, _oh. Komaeda hadn’t been talking about Hinata - he’d been talking about himself._

“...No one should be subjected to sharing a bed with someone like me,” said Komaeda, a bit quieter than he’d been before. “Not even _you._ I- I’ll sleep on the floor. Or in the hallway, if that’s easier, or maybe you can even throw me outside with the raccoons-”

“Huh?” Hinata cut him off. “Listen, I don’t want to sleep on the floor, or… any of those other places, for that matter, but I’m not gonna make you sleep there either. We can just... share?”

Komaeda glanced at him warily. “You... wouldn't be too disgusted?"

"No?" Hinata shot him a confused look. “Would _you?”_

“...I suppose not.” Komaeda shifted uneasily. He was staring at the ground, cheeks pink and hands tightly wound together, and _holy shit, he was actually embarrassed._

Hinata stared at him, awestruck. Maybe he was a real person after all. “So it’s settled.”

Komaeda nodded slowly, then gestured towards the bathroom, saying, “I should go... get ready to sleep.”

Hinata shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll, uh. I’ll be here.”

As Komaeda left, Hinata sat on the edge of the bed and busied himself with searching through his own backpack. His suitcase holding his actual clothes and luggage was, of course, on the bus, so all he had was the school uniform he was wearing and whatever he could find in the stupid bag. There was the Nintendo DS Nanami had given him on his last birthday, his toothbrush and toothpaste, a couple loose pens, a singular packet of protein powder from Nidai, a bottle of water, Koizumi’s old camera, headphones, a phone charger, his wallet, and some sort of talisman Tanaka had made for him. Normal stuff, for the most part, but not much that would be useful to him here.

Hinata set the backpack back on the hotel desk before returning to the bed. He just sat there for a moment, staring at the blank white ceiling, and began to consider the gravity of his situation. He was lost, and not just geographically. He was about to be stuck with Nagito Komaeda, the one person who hated him most, for almost a week. He’d never experienced anything like this before. He wasn't sure _anyone_ had. It was like he was standing on the edge of a cliff at night, about to jump and unable to see what was at the bottom.

Nervously bouncing his leg against the floor, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. When he found the one he was searching for, he hit call and pressed the phone to his ear, listening to the droning dial tone. It just kept on ringing, and Hinata was about to give up entirely when he finally heard the the other line pick up.

“...Hey.”

“Holy shit, Nanami.” Hinata could barely hide the relief he was feeling. He flopped back against the bed, phone still pressed to his ear. “Thanks for picking up.

“‘Course, Hinata.” She yawned. “...How’s your road trip going?” 

“I don’t even know what the hell is going on, dude. I had to hotwire a car - which I’m ninety-nine percent sure is illegal, by the way - it’s gonna take at least four days to get back, cause I’m the only one who has a license, Komaeda ordered a kid’s meal from McDonalds, and now we’re staying at some random hotel in Asahikawa.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Also, please don’t listen to Soda. It’s not a _road trip,”_ he added weakly.

“...He ordered a kid’s meal?”

“Yeah, he wanted to see what the toy was, I guess.”

"Besides that..." Nanami hummed. “You must have a lot to deal with right now, Hinata.”

Hinata nodded intently. “And the worst part is, I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to do next.”

“I can understand why you’re so overwhelmed,” Nanami said gently, “but I don’t think stressing about it will change anything. It’s like, sometimes, when I’m playing a really hard game, I get frustrated - but that only makes me play worse. I think that when things are stressful, all you can do is try to make the best of your circumstances.”

“...I guess you’re right,” Hinata admitted. 

“Calm down a bit, okay, Hinata?” Nanami’s sleepy voice was oddly comforting. “You know, you can be pretty skeptical sometimes.”

“Huh.” Hinata tilted his head. “It’s weird, but Komaeda said the exact same thing.” 

“I know this is a really strange situation, but it’s you. You always figure out the right thing to do. So everything’s gonna turn out alright.” She paused. “...Probably.” 

“Thanks, Nanami,” he said, letting out a sigh of relief. 

“You know you can always talk to me, right, Hinata?” she asked, then yawned loudly. “Ah… maybe not _right_ now, though…” She cut herself off with another yawn.

Hinata could picture the look on her face; glazed eyes, slightly parted lips, struggling to keep herself conscious when she was on the verge of falling asleep. He gave a low laugh, readjusting the phone in his hand. “Yeah, yeah. Dream about Pokemon or whatever. G’night, Nanami.” 

“Zzz...Ah, g’night, Hinata…zzzz...”

Still smiling, Hinata hung up the phone. He got up, stretched, brushed his teeth in the small sink in the room, drank some water, and by the time he was about to return to the bed, Komaeda came out of the bathroom. 

They stared at each other from across the room. Biting the bullet, Hinata made the first move, stepping forwards and laying down on the side near the window. Komaeda slowly followed behind, laying on the other side of the bed, as far away from Hinata as possible. 

Hinata would have laughed if it wasn’t so tragic. They were both fully clothed, laying on opposite ends of a hotel bed, as far away from each other as it would permit. They didn’t like each other, yet they were stuck together. Komaeda’s bad luck may have been starting to make sense, because Hinata couldn’t think of any other explanation for how he could have ended up in a situation like this.

With a sigh, he reached over to the bedside table and turned off the lamp, leaving them in darkness. The only light now was the pale moon shining in from the window. Hinata laid back down on his side, and despite how far apart they were, he could still feel the warmth of Komaeda’s body behind him. He shook his head slightly, trying to rationalize it to himself. People slept in the same bed normally all the time, right? Kids at a sleepover. Cheap roommates who could only afford one mattress. Those crazy guys who hiked Mount Everest huddling for warmth in a tent.

Even so, he spared a glance over his shoulder at Komaeda. The other boy was almost halfway off the edge, awkwardly keeping his slender body propped against the bed. That position couldn’t be comfortable, and knowing Komaeda’s luck, he would somehow get a concussion just by falling off the side of the bed. And that would just make it more troublesome for everyone, so Hinata had to do _something._

“Komaeda.” He rolled over and watched with narrowed eyes as the other boy turned to look at him, confusion evident on his face. “You’re gonna roll off the side.” 

If anything, that only sent Komaeda further off the edge. “G-good! That’s probably what I deserve.”

With an exasperated sigh, Hinata grabbed Komaeda’s wrist and used the leverage to pull the other boy to the center of the bed. Which, _wow, was actually kind of a stupid plan,_ given that all Hinata had really done was drag Komaeda closer to himself, leaving them almost nose-to-nose lying next to each other.

With a jolt, Hinata dropped Komaeda’s wrist like it was a live grenade, watching as it fell limply back on the bed. “See?” he said anyways, just to prove a point. “It’s fine.” 

“I-If you’re sure-” 

“Komaeda,” Hinata groaned as he rolled onto his back, exhaustion taking over his body. He felt his eyes begin to close as he mumbled, “Just... go to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm going to try to post a new chapter every week or so, let me know what you think in the comments!!


	3. day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only Komaeda could combine tourist traps, knife fights, and partial nudity into one road trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there was an issue so i had to reupload the chapter, sorry!! i hope you enjoy!!

Hinata had first met Komaeda on a rainy day near the end of his first year.

He’d left the school library just as it was closing, preparing to walk back across campus to his dorm, but he’d been forced to stop at the edge of the overhang. The light rain from earlier had become torrential, falling in buckets from the cloudy gray sky above. Hinata remembered how odd that had been; he had thought it was unnatural that the storm could have ramped up so quickly, and he’d muttered a few curses about the weather channel before looking back at the sky. Carefully, he’d stuck a hand out of the overhang to test the rain - then immediately jerked it back. A sudden flood of water had splashed down from the roof, soaking his whole sleeve through. With an exasperated sigh, Hinata took off his uniform jacket and shoved it in his backpack. He hadn’t brought an umbrella, and there was no way he was getting all the way across campus in a storm like this, so it seemed his only option was to wait out the rainstorm under the library entryway. He’d just resigned himself to a cold evening alone when a clear, lilting voice rang out from behind him. 

“Forgot your umbrella?” 

Hinata had turned to face the source of the voice; behind him, a skinny teenage boy in a Main Course uniform was leaning against the library doorway. He closed the door behind him as he walked up to Hinata, standing next to him and rocking on his heels. From close up, Hinata noticed with a twinge of annoyance that the guy was slightly taller than him. His disheveled hair matched the color of the clouds, his pale green eyes perfectly reflected the rainy sky, and Hinata suddenly realized he’d gotten so distracted that he’d forgotten he’d been asked a question.

“You’re one to talk,” he shot back. “You don’t have an umbrella, either.”

The guy laughed. It was a pleasant sound, if a bit raspy. “I suppose you’re right.” He glanced out at the rain with a slight frown. “I’ve seriously got no luck at all.” 

“Same as me, then,” Hinata said. 

When Hinata looked to the side, he saw the guy staring at him with wide eyes and a small, unreadable smile on his face. “...Maybe you’re right,” he said quietly. 

Hinata didn’t quite know what to make of that, so he didn’t reply. The two stayed silent for a few moments, listening to the sound of rain against the buildings. 

"How long would you guess we're gonna to be stuck here?" Hinata asked eventually.

"Knowing me, the rain's not going to let up anytime soon," the other boy said, leaning forwards a bit to watch the storm.

Hinata watched for a moment too, then let out a groan. “Man, I seriously need to stop trusting the weather channel."

The guy laughed again. It was strangely disarming, like seeing him smile was enough to distract Hinata from his worries entirely. “If only our school had an Ultimate Meteorologist - we’d never have to worry about getting caught in storms again!” he said lightly. 

Hinata snorted. “There’s a talent I wish I had.” 

“Much better than my worthless talent, at least.” The guy tilted his head, unruly white curls falling just slightly into his eyes. “But as it is, we’re probably going to be stuck here for a while.”

Hinata raised an eyebrow. “For some reason, it doesn’t really sound like you’re that upset about it.” 

“I might be, if I was alone.” He was looking at the ground. “But I’m beginning to think this rain might have been good luck after all.” 

Hinata had an odd feeling that he’d been complimented, but he couldn’t quite figure out how. He felt heat rise to his face anyways. “What, you seriously think it’s good luck to get trapped outside in the middle of a raging thunderstorm?” 

“If I’m here with you, I think it might be,” the boy said softly. “The rain lead to us meeting, didn’t it?” 

“...Yeah.” Hinata tried to bite back his smile, but he found himself grinning anyways. “I guess it did.” 

The guy tentatively offered out his hand, like he was afraid it might be rejected. “I’m Nagito Komaeda, by the way.” 

Hinata shook his hand tightly. Komaeda’s hand was soft, and his fingers wrapped around Hinata’s like they were meant to stay there. “Hajime Hinata.”

And with that, the rain suddenly stopped. Both boys turned in unison to watch as the storm clouds began to fade away, more quickly than should have been possible. The last rays of the setting sun pierced through the now-thin cloud cover, casting a soft, silver-lined light on everything around them.

“Storm’s over,” marveled Hinata, still holding Komaeda’s hand. 

Komaeda was staring back at him, wide-eyed. “...This really was good luck,” he said breathlessly. 

Hinata finally let go of his hand, feeling strangely empty without the contact. Komaeda left his uncertain hand held out for a moment before putting it down. 

“Your name…” Komaeda murmured curiously. “Forgive me, but I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.” In an instant, something new and cold flashed through his eyes. “Hajime...Hinata? You’re Nanami’s friend, aren’t you?” His gaze hardened. “...You’re from the _Reserve Course?”_

Hinata glanced down, remembering that he’d taken off his soaked uniform jacket; now there was almost nothing distinguishing him from a Main Course student. He looked up with a frown, confused at the other boy’s sudden change in demeanor. _Hadn’t it been just a few seconds ago that Komaeda was talking about how it must have been good luck that they’d met?_ “Yeah,” Hinata replied, a bit confrontational. “I am.”

“...I’ve changed my mind,” Komaeda said, his voice practically dripping with disdain. “Meeting a worthless member of the masses was obviously bad luck. I can’t believe I ever thought you were-” He hesitated, taking a step back. “Forget it. This means nothing.” 

And with that, Komaeda had walked away, the ripples from his footsteps in the left-behind rain puddles the only indication he'd been there at all.

* * *

Hinata slowly blinked his eyes open, squinting at the light streaming through the windows. He’d dreamt of his and Komaeda’s first meeting, though he has no idea _why._ Maybe so much time stuck with the guy had started stirring up weird old memories - memories he'd rather not think about in the daylight.

The way Komaeda had turned on him so suddenly still sent pangs of hurt through his chest. It was stupid, and he knew it was stupid. 

The guy was an asshole. That was it.

Contented by that conclusion, Hinata yawned and closed his eyes again, not quite ready to face the new day just yet. The pillows were soft, the morning light was still dim, and the arm wrapped around his waist was a comforting warmth as he started drifting off again.

_The arm… around… his waist?_

Hinata's eyes shot open, feeling as if he'd been shocked out of sleep - and he felt his eyes go even wider at the sight he was greeted with. Komaeda’s head was resting on Hinata’s chest, tucked just underneath his chin, and he'd thrown one arm around Hinata's waist. If that wasn't enough, Hinata's own body had betrayed him in his sleep; he'd wrapped one of his own arms around Komaeda's back, pulling him in closer and holding him tightly to his chest.

Now fully awake, Hinata jolted up, knocking his head against the wall - which, of course, only served to wake up Komaeda, too. Hinata watched in horror as Komaeda’s eyes slowly blinked open to stare straight down at Hinata’s chest, then flicked to his face, confused.

In an instant, both of them scrambled backwards, ending up on opposite ends of the bed, the same places they’d been _trying_ to sleep last night. They stared at each other for a wordless minute, equally floored.

“What, exactly, were you doing, Hinata?” Komaeda's voice was equal parts embarrassed and accusatory. 

"Me? What were _you_ doing?" Hinata echoed.

"You think _I_ would deign to get so close to a Reserve Course-"

"Like I'd _ever_ choose to end up like that-"

"Well, I'm not the one who-"

Hinata buried his face in his hands. "Oh my god, this is so _stupid,"_ he groaned, rolling off the bed onto his feet. "Just - get ready so we can get out of here, alright? Let's not drag this out any longer than we have to.”

He wasn’t entirely sure if Komaeda had heard him, given the other boy was just sitting on the edge of the bed, wide-eyed and red-faced, looking at his hands and mumbling something to himself. 

“Oookay. You have fun with, uh. That. We’re leaving in-” Hinata's eyes flicked to the clock on the bedside table, which flashed 8:50. “-ten minutes.”

And with that, Hinata shut himself in the bathroom, leaning back against the door and letting out a deep breath. He was _not_ going to think about what just happened, he told himself. That was a problem for another day's Hinata.

He stepped towards the sink, making a futile attempt to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt and brushing his teeth with more intensity than necessary. When he was done, he looked up at the mirror. The dark circles under his eyes weren't nearly as bad as usual. He must have actually slept pretty well last night. The bed was much more comfortable than the one he had at the dorm, and, to be completely honest, Komaeda’s presence had been almost comforting, arms wrapped around him, slotted together, and- _nope._

Hinata quickly turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face, scowling. He needed to get some coffee as soon as possible, because there was clearly something wrong with his brain this morning. 

When he returned to the room, Komaeda had apparently gotten over... whatever was going on with him. He was now standing in front of the mirror, backpack slung over his shoulder, trying to comb through his messy hair with his fingers. Unlike Hinata, he was still wearing his full school uniform, which was somehow unwrinkled despite the fact that he'd slept in his clothes.

They headed to the lobby to check out, and thankfully, the girl at the front desk wasn’t the receptionist they’d spoken to last night. Before they left, Hinata lead them to the row of vending machines in a hallway right off the lobby. He searched for iced coffee, found it in the one on the end, threw in some money, and leaned down to press D2. 

“...Can you get me one too?” Komaeda called from behind him.

Hinata grabbed his cold drink from the receptacle and turned towards him. “Get it yourself.” 

Komaeda raised his eyebrows. “I’m sure you’re aware of my tragic history with vending machines, Hinata.” 

Hinata grimaced, reminded of the time he’d seen Komaeda trekking across campus with a wagon full of Dr. Hopper. “Unfortunately.” Reluctantly, he added another 100 yen and tapped the button.

When the can was dropped into the box, he pulled it out of the machine. It felt freezing in his hand, so he reached up and pressed it to Komaeda’s face. Komaeda scrunched up his nose, batting it away, as Hinata snickered in amusement. He finally grabbed the can from Hinata, scowling. Hinata shrugged at him before popping open his own can and taking a sip.

And with that, they went around back to the parking lot. Komaeda sparked the starter wires, the car somehow didn't blow up, and they drove away.

* * *

Komaeda was absolutely _terrible_ at giving directions.

Seriously, the worst. First of all, he was being his usual difficult self. Second, he was trying to navigate with the ingenious combination of his flip phone and a crumpled-up map they’d found in the glovebox. Hinata had tried to get him to use his own slightly cracked iPhone 4, _because come on, it’s 2012, get with the times,_ but apparently Komaeda was incapable of using any technology that didn’t have buttons.

So they were lost. Hinata had been circling around Asahikawa for the last half-hour, unable to find the route to the expressway.

“Turn onto… ah, Kinseibashi-Dori Street?” Komaeda tilted the map sideways, then looked down at his phone. “Or perhaps that one is Dobutsuen-Dori…”

Hinata sighed as he took what must have been another wrong turn. “I can’t believe you’re still trying to use your burner phone for this. Why do you even own something like that?”

“I keep accidentally breaking the phones I get, so there’s no point in buying expensive ones,” Komaeda said, turning the map upside down. “It doesn’t really matter what phone I have, though. It’s not as if anyone ever calls me.”

“...Oh.” Hinata’s gaze flicked towards him for a moment before returning to the road. “I mean, uh. That thing’s still gotta have some kind of actual GPS, right?”

“I can check.” Komaeda nodded and tapped a few buttons, before smiling. “Ah, here it is!” He propped the phone on the dashboard.

“I think we can try to get to Hakodate today, which will shorten this trip by a lot, so put that in.” Hinata watched as he entered the location. “Does your navigation system say directions out loud?”

Suddenly, the tinny speakers of Komaeda’s phone blared to life. “I’m not just a navigation system! I...am...Monokuma!”

Hinata had to swerve back into his lane. “What the _fuck?”_

The phone, regrettably, kept going. “I’ve been transported to your GPS to bring you a whole new world of adventure and passion! You’re excited, aren’t you? Say you’re excited!” There was a small cartoon Monokuma at the edge of the screen, seeming to stand on the map. 

“Dude, what’s wrong with your phone?” Hinata asked, pained.

“Ah, it appears to be a new promotion featuring Monokuma…” Komaeda mumbled, staring down at the screen. “Such despair…”

“Puhuhu… turn left onto Asahikawa-Shindo Road in 0.4 miles! Let's hurry up and begin our lovey-dovey honeymoon together!”

Hinata tried to follow the directions, he really did, but listening to Monokuma’s voice was almost unbearable - pun _not_ intended.

“You missed the turn!" Phone-Monokuma blared. "Ya see, every human makes stupid mistakes, things they have to go back and fix. But I don’t! Cause I’m a bear.”

Hinata turned onto another street, circling back to his original location. Just as he was about to make the turn, though, Komaeda started undoing the top button of his collar, and Hinata drove straight past it.

“You passed the turn again, but don't sweat the small stuff! That's my motto. Whoa, I sounded pretty cool just now, don'tcha think? Did you fall in love with me?”

Komaeda paused, looking up from his collar. "Is your driving always like this?" he asked loftily.

Hinata grit his teeth, but he couldn't really tell if he was more frustrated with himself or with Komaeda. Both, probably. " _Please_ stop talking." He flipped the car around, went back, and finally got the turn right.

They kept driving, but Komaeda never got any better at giving directions, and Hinata never got any better at taking them. That, and Komaeda made them pull over at every stupid roadside attraction they passed. Something about _‘viewing the world’s hope,’_ or whatever he was always talking about. Hinata went with him, telling himself it was only so he didn't get bored enough to fall asleep at the wheel. Throughout the day, they'd seen ‘The World’s Smallest Grain of Rice,’ ‘Hokkaido’s Biggest Flower Field,’ and ‘Sapporo’s Best Roadside Taiyaki.’ Biggest, worst, best - Komaeda, it seemed, felt only in extremes.

It was dark out by the time they stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Hinata had no idea where they’d ended up, seeing as neither Komaeda nor his phone’s stupid navigation system had been any help at all the several times they'd gotten lost. The station looked pretty old, but at least it had a convenience store. 

He stepped out of the car, wallet in hand, and leaned down to look at Komaeda. “Go inside and get some food and drinks for tonight,” he said, gesturing vaguely to the store. “I’ll fill up the car.”

Komaeda nodded and started off towards the store. Hinata approached the ancient machine, put in his credit card, selected a fuel grade, and pulled out the gas nozzle. He unscrewed the cap on the side of the car and pushed in the nozzle, pressing it down and watching as the numbers ticked up on the counter. When it was near what he guessed was full, he returned the nozzle and screwed the cap back on, leaning against the car. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guy at the spot next to his begin to approach him. He quickly turned to the side to see a man with long, greasy hair eyeing his car curiously. 

“Oi.” The man’s gaze flicked up from examining the car to stare straight at Hinata. “This car,” he said. “Is it really yours?”

Hinata froze in place. “Uh, yeah,” he said nervously. “This is my car. I own it. Legally.”

“Huh,” the guy said, taking a step closer. “So _you’re_ the guy who hit my car in the parking lot!” he yelled, jabbing an accusatory finger in his face. “Fuck you, asshole, I had to get a whole new door because of you!”

Hinata scrambled backwards, shaking his head. “Wait, no-”

“No denying it now, you little shit! I’d recognize your ugly-ass car anywhere!” The man reached into his heavy jacket and pulled out a knife. “Now I’m gonna show you what happens when you mess with Haiji Towa!”

Fear coursing through his body, Hinata hastened to explain. “Listen, okay? It’s not my car, I just found it on the side of the highway and hotwired it yesterday!”

“That’s the most unbelievable story I’ve ever heard,” the guy scoffed. 

“Yeah, that’s what I said too - _hey!”_

The man suddenly pushed Hinata towards the edge of the gas station, out of view from the fluorescent lights. They were on the border of the parking lot and a dark field of muddy grass. Hinata swallowed over the lump in his throat, terrified. He turned around to face Towa, and as he did, he head the chime of the convenience store door.

“They didn’t have the chips you wanted, so I had to get-” Komaeda looked up and stopped in his tracks. “Ah.”

Towa whipped around to stare at him, but he kept the knife aimed at Hinata. “You a friend of his?” he called.

Komaeda tilted his head. “I wouldn’t say that. _Classmate_ would probably be more accurate - hm, but even that’s a stretch, seeing as I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student, and he’s just-”

“Really, dude? _Now?”_ Hinata called, irritation momentarily replacing fear.

Towa’s expression darkened. “Get over there and don’t fuckin’ move.”

Komaeda raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, still holding a plastic convenience store bag, and slowly approached Hinata. “Hm,” he muttered. “This isn’t ideal.”

“Not ideal?” Hinata hissed.

“Well, do you have another word for it?” Komaeda whispered back.

_“Several.”_

Komaeda turned back to Towa. “If I may ask, what did Hinata do to make you so angry?”

“Oi-”

“Your buddy here hit my car a month ago,” Towa growled. “You see, I was just leaving my favorite restaurant, and I’d gotten their best meal, the homemade katsudon. Then, out of nowhere, this ugly-ass green car blows through the parking lot and hits my car, totaling it, before speeding away. Now me, having to watch this whole thing - well, I’m so upset that I drop my piping hot katsudon right onto my brand-new leather shoes, ruining them and scalding my feet in the process.”

“Wow,” Komaeda said. “You must have _terrible_ luck for something like that to happen.”

"Damn right," crowed Towa.

Komaeda nodded. “Ah, but no matter how bad your luck is, I can assure you it’s nowhere near as bad as mine.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Let me explain it to you in a way you can understand,” he said, pulling a can of soda from the bag. “For example, imagine I threw this can into the air right now. How incredibly unlucky would I have to be for the can to hit someone on the way down?”

Towa scoffed. “There's no way that would happen.”

Komaeda shrugged. “Maybe you’re right, maybe you aren’t. Regardless, I don’t think that would be a wise bet to make. So tell me, are you feeling unlucky right now?” An unsettling smile appeared on his face. “Because I am.” And with that, he tossed the soda can up in the air. 

It flew towards the sky, blocking out the moon, and, for a moment, Hinata was convinced it was actually going to hit Towa. But, at the last minute, the man sidestepped, leaving the can to fall to the ground and ricochet in the opposite direction completely.

“You missed,” he growled.

Komaeda hummed. “Give it a moment, please.”

Hinata watched in awe as the can seemed to ignore the basic laws of physics completely. It bounced off the convenience store wall, hit the gas nozzle, and rebounded back straight into Towa’s head with a loud _thwack._ The man wobbled for a moment, his eyes rolling up in his head, before he collapsed. His weight careened forwards like a ton of bricks, slamming both Hinata and Komaeda to the muddy ground below.

Hinata braced himself on his hands against the dirt, but he still felt the wind get knocked out of him. “The guy’s out cold,” he wheezed, pushing the body to the side.

Komaeda picked up the can of soda and stood to his feet, wiping his muddy hands on his pants. “We should really drive away before he wakes up,” he said, popping open the can and taking a sip. "I can't imagine my luck will last for long."

* * *

Hinata didn’t know how long he’d been driving for when he finally felt himself relax. He was surrounded by trees on either side of the forest highway, reaching up tall into the clear night sky, and they were the only car around for miles, which meant that Towa guy hadn't followed them. The road was illuminated by the moon and the glare of the car’s old headlights, seeming to go on forever. The sight was oddly calming, and Hinata let himself breathe it in. It was like the normal world around him had collapsed entirely, rebuilding an entire universe in which the only things to exist were himself, the old car, and the country road.

And Komaeda.

Hinata shifted slightly in his seat, glancing at the passenger seat for only half a second before turning his eyes back to the road. “Thanks for, y’know,” he said, shrugging sharply. “Not letting me get killed.” 

Komaeda turned towards him. "You... don't have to thank me," he said, sounding mildly confused. “I barely even did anything.”

“Man.” Hinata shook his head incredulously. “Even with a knife to your throat, you’re still the same dependably weird guy.” He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. “Can I ask you a question?”

“I doubt I'll be able to give you a satisfactory answer,” Komaeda replied, but it wasn't technically a _no._

“...How did you stay so calm?”

“Because of hope, Hinata," Komaeda said, a small, undecipherable smile appearing on his lips. "With the life that I’ve led, I’ve learned that I can get through any kind of despair as long as I have hope that my luck will change for the better. No matter how bad things get, I always believe in the brilliance of hope. I have to.”

“...Huh.” Hinata had to pause, because that had... actually made sense. “Shit, I really must be losing it if your weird hope speeches are actually making me feel better.” 

Komaeda froze in his seat. “You...really…?”

Hinata shrugged, embarrassed, and returned his eyes to the road. “I guess so.”

“Oh,” he said quietly. Before Hinata could even _begin_ to comprehend what that meant, Komaeda continued on. “Anyways, this wasn’t really a big deal. It’s not the first time I’ve been held at knife point.”

“It’s- it’s _not?”_ Hinata felt his jaw drop. “Komaeda, when the hell has that ever happened to you before?”

“Middle school,” Komaeda answered simply.

“Jeez, I didn’t take you for the middle school delinquent type.”

“It’s not that,” Komaeda replied. “It’s… um. You know what? You... don't have to hear it. It would probably bore you, and you wouldn't care to know in the first place, so-”

“Try me,” Hinata said. "You can talk about it if you want to."

Komaeda's expression was one of shock, like he hadn't even considered someone would care. He cleared his throat softly, looking down. “Alright. Um. I was walking home from school one day, and out of nowhere, this man dragged me into his car and kidnapped me. He kept me as a hostage for a while, but when he realized I had no one who would pay my ransom, he stuffed me in a trash bag and left me to die.”

“Oh, shit, dude, are you-”

Komaeda waved a flippant hand in the air. “It turned out fine, of course. By complete coincidence, I found a lottery ticket inside the trash bag, and after I was safely taken in by the police, I checked out the numbers without giving it much thought… Surprise! I won 30 billion yen! Even I was amazed by this splendid act of good luck.”

"I-I'm sorry, Komaeda. That's horrible."

"I don't see it that way." Komaeda shifted in his seat. “...I’m aware that's not exactly a normal response, but, well. I already know how my life is going to end, and it’s not by the hands of some worthless member of the masses.” He looked out the side window, fingers trailing along the glass. “I’m going to die due to my own luck. It’s almost happened several times before, and I’m quite sure that’s the only way I’m going to go out. Someday I am going to die alone, and it will be my own fault. It’s inevitable, so I’m not scared.”

Hinata frowned. “That’s a stupid ending, isn’t it?”

Komaeda turned towards him, wide-eyed. “I- what?”

“I said, that’s a stupid ending. Your life means more than just what your luck dictates.”

"Ah, Hinata." He leaned back in the passenger seat, an odd expression crossing over his face. "How I wish that was true."

* * *

Hinata pulled over at a motel in the woods soon after that. He still didn't quite know where they were, but he was so tired that it didn't really matter. Besides, this was probably one of the only places that would accept him and Komaeda - the way they looked right now, carrying no real luggage and wearing mud-splattered school uniforms, was suspicious enough already.

The girl at the front desk welcomed them in, and Hinata gave her a greeting before asking the horribly awkward question he knew he had to ask. "This is gonna sound weird, but... what city are we in?”

“About twenty minutes from Chitose,” the girl responded cheerfully.

Hinata closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly distressed. “...Oh.”

“Ah, Hinata?” Komaeda asked cautiously.

“That’s… four hours away from where we were supposed to be,” he groaned. “Getting lost just added a whole other day to the trip.”

"...Oh," Komaeda repeated.

Hinata just sighed and turned back to the receptionist, exhausted. "Is there a place to wash clothes here?"

She nodded. “Yes, all rooms on the second floor have access to a small laundromat.”

“Perfect, we’ll take a room on the second floor. _Two beds,”_ he clarified. 

The receptionist leaned down to check the computer, then looked back up with a small frown. “Ah, I’m sorry, sir. The only rooms available on the second floor are singles. Is that alright?”

Hinata paused, weighing the pros and cons of sleeping covered in mud and sleeping next to Komaeda. Komaeda just _barely_ won out. “...Yeah, that’s fine.” He turned to Komaeda, whispering, “I mean, you’re okay with it, right?”

Komaeda looked utterly confused by the idea, but he didn’t look opposed, and after a moment he nodded blankly and pulled out a credit card. 

They paid for the room, got their key cards, which thankfully included laundromat access, and headed up the stairs to the second floor. They started towards the laundromat first, wanting to get out of their muddy clothes as soon as possible.

But when they actually got to the room, Hinata began to see the problem. He needed to wash his clothes, but they were also the only pair of clothes he had with him. And that meant that he was going to have to take off his clothes. In a tiny room. With Nagito Komaeda. 

He spared a glance at the boy next to him, who, judging by the mortified look on his face, had reached the same unfortunate conclusion.

“This is… kind of indecent, isn’t it?” Komaeda fidgeted with the dirt-caked cuff of his sleeve, making a disgusted face as he touched it.

“No one will come in,” Hinata said awkwardly. “And it’s not like we have any other options.”

Komaeda sent him a side-eye. “Do you depraved Reserve Course leeches actually _like_ getting naked in public?”

“Huh? N-no!” Hinata scowled, his blush getting deeper. “Shut up, okay? One more word and you don’t get your clothes washed.”

Komaeda bit his lip, cheeks pink. “Fine,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt, “if Hinata _insists-”_

“Holy _shit,_ dude!” Hinata exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender. “Turn around first, or something!”

“Oh.” Komaeda quickly turned his back to Hinata before continuing to unbutton his shirt. He’d just started to shrug it off his shoulders when Hinata reminded himself to _turn the fuck around._

He made quick work of his own shirt, fumbling with the buttons and tossing it carelessly to the floor. Next, he pulled his wallet and phone from his pockets before setting them on a small bench facing the machines. He started on his belt, but his mind kept drifting back to the boy behind him. Komaeda’s chest was just as pale as the rest of his body. His stupid messy hair almost reached the tops of his shoulders. He had nice collarbones.

Hinata’s eyes went wide. _They were… just observations,_ he rationalized. That was all. Nevertheless, he quickly shook himself off that train of thought, whatever the hell it was leading to. He finally stepped out of his pants, which left him wearing just his boxers, and when he turned back around, he found himself nose-to-nose with Komaeda.

Both of them jolted back immediately. Komaeda was holding his folded clothes in one hand, his wallet in the other, and Hinata watched as he dropped a few coins into the machine. Hinata scrambled to pick up his own clothes from the floor before tossing them into the washing machine with Komaeda’s. Komaeda shut the machine door, added a ridiculous amount of detergent, and tapped a few buttons. 

“Let’s hope my bad luck doesn’t dye your clothes pink.”

“Wash it on cold, then,” Hinata said back. (Besides, he thought he actually looked pretty good in pink.)

“That’s… actually not a terrible idea.” Komaeda sounded a bit pained to admit it.

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Miracles happen every day. Now turn on the washing machine.”

Komaeda tapped another button, and the machine whirred to life. Which was great, except for the fact that Hinata was now standing in a room, half-naked and completely unoccupied, with another guy who was _also_ half-naked and unoccupied. And that meant that what Hinata was currently doing was staring at Komaeda, and it meant that Komaeda was staring right back at him.

Komaeda was skinny, even more than Hinata had imagined. His legs were really long. He was wearing plaid boxers, which was actually kind of cute, and _fuck,_ Hinata was dangerously close to leaving observation territory and heading into something else entirely.

His one comfort was that at least Komaeda looked as embarrassed as he felt, and he was staring, too. Komaeda’s breath sounded fast, and he was biting his lip, and his face had gone completely pink. When Hinata finally met his eyes, they both froze in place. _This was probably equally terrible for the both of them,_ Hinata thought. Being alone in this room together was seriously fucking with his head. This whole trip was.

He crossed his arms over his chest and sat down on the bench, effectively breaking whatever spell had come over them. He grabbed for his phone, sliding it open and selecting whatever mind-numbing game he could tap on first. After he’d lost his fifth round of _Snake,_ though, he snuck a glance at Komaeda. He was perched on top of the empty washing machine in the corner, crossing his legs, looking down, and fiddling with his hands. Hinata turned back to his phone, and they both continued to very pointedly not acknowledge the other’s existence.

Hinata didn’t know how long it had been when the washing machine let out a small jingling sound. Komaeda quickly hopped off his perch and opened the door, pulling out their now-clean clothes before standing back up. 

“Excuse me,” he said, kicking slightly at Hinata’s leg. Hinata looked down, realizing he was in the way, and jumped to his feet to let Komaeda past.

Except for now Hinata was seeing Komaeda's bad luck in action once again, because even with that, there was barely enough space for Komaeda to fit through. That didn’t stop him, though; Komaeda pressed himself back against the machines and shuffled through, his whole body brushing past Hinata’s. He paused for half a second, green eyes meeting hazel. Hinata's face was just inches from Komaeda's, and they were both breathing heavily, chests rising and falling with intention. He could feel Komaeda's heart beating through his chest. 

And just like that, it was over. Komaeda looked down and continued past quickly, immediately looking away and busying himself with the dryer. Hinata, however, was left leaning against the wall, trying to swallow over the lump in his throat. 

He heard the distant sound of the dryer spinning to life before Komaeda stood up, stumbling just a little bit before righting himself. “I’m going to go shower,” announced Komaeda loudly before walking briskly out of the room. 

_Probably disgusted to have to get that close to a Reserve student,_ Hinata surmised with a scowl. He braced himself against the wall, taking a few deep breaths before returning to his seat.

* * *

When he got back to the room, clothes piled in his arms, Komaeda was still in the shower. Hinata set his clothes on the corner of the bed; not quite folded, but not nearly as haphazard as if they’d been his own. 

He wasn’t quite sure what to do next, so he leaned on the opposite edge of the bed, falling onto his back and letting out a breath. The night air was warm, disturbed only by the lazy breeze of the fan carding through his hair. When he listened closely, he could hear the homesick chime of cicadas from the other side of the screen door. Slowly, he stood up, placing his socked feet evenly on the wooden floor and walking over to the doorway. He slid back the screen and sat down on the porch, letting his legs dangle off the edge. From here, he could see the whole forest under the light of a pale crescent moon. Pinpricks of light dotted the dark blue horizon, and Hinata didn’t think he’d ever seen this many stars before. He’d spent his whole life in Tokyo, where even on clear nights, light pollution still obscured half the sky. There were so many stars he’d never even seen. It seemed weird that he could have missed out on entire galaxies so easily. 

He’d been there for a while before heard the screen door open behind him. Turning back, he saw Komaeda standing hesitantly in the doorway. The other boy’s still-damp hair was sticking up at odd angles, his pale skin was flushed from the shower, and he was only wearing his newly clean sweater and uniform pants. His fingers were curled around the door handle, and his eyes were flitting about nervously, refusing to look directly at Hinata. 

“You can come outside, y’know,” Hinata said. “If you want.” 

Komaeda’s gaze shot towards him. “You- really? You wouldn’t mind?” 

Hinata shrugged sharply. “Well, it’s better than you just awkwardly standing behind me.”

With a wordless nod, Komaeda slowly approached the edge of the porch and sat down as far away from Hinata as was possible (which actually wasn’t very far at all, given the confines of the regrettably small porch.)

“...Do you like watching the stars?” Komaeda asked, hesitation evident in his voice. 

“I guess,” Hinata replied stiffly. 

“Have you ever heard of cosmic insignificance?” When Hinata shook his head, Komaeda continued. “The universe that surrounds us is vast, and we are so very small. When we reflect on the vastness of the universe, our humdrum cosmic location, and the inevitable future demise of humanity, our lives can seem utterly insignificant.”

“Well, yeah,” Hinata said, “but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

“You... don’t?”

“It’s kinda reassuring, in a weird way. When I look at the sky, and I see how huge it is, I know that the stars up there don’t care who I am or what I do. If I’m insignificant in the universe, then I’m allowed to exist on my own terms.”

“Huh.” Komaeda looked at him curiously. “Perhaps you’re more interesting than I gave you credit for, Hinata.”

“I suppose that’s your version of a compliment.”

“Yes, well.” The edges of Komaeda’s mouth twitched up. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

Hinata bit back a smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t _dare.”_ He laid down on the deck completely, arms folded behind his head.

After a moment of uncertainty, Komaeda laid down next to him and looked back up at the sky. “You can see so many more stars out here, right?” 

Hinata nodded. “I’ve always lived in the middle of the city, so I don’t get to see stuff like this very often.” 

“It’s beautiful,” Komaeda said softly. 

“Yeah.” 

Komaeda’s gaze flicked to Hinata for a moment, stilted and halfway apologetic. “Ah, sorry. I must be bothering you.” 

“You’re not, actually,” Hinata promised. He could have stopped there, but he realized that this was one of the few positive conversations he and Komaeda had ever had. It almost felt like he was talking to a _friend,_ the way it had when they'd first met, and he wasn’t ready to give that up quite yet. “Do you know any constellations?”

Komaeda seemed surprised by Hinata’s interest, but he nodded eagerly and launched into some long explanation about the stars and their patterns. Hinata was surprised that he didn’t even have to feign interest in what Komaeda was saying - he genuinely wanted to listen. 

“Shooting star!” Komaeda said suddenly. He was pointing at the sky. Hinata was looking at his hand. “Make a wish.” 

Hinata raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that stuff for kids?” 

“Haha, I guess so.” 

“Well, whatever.” Hinata watched the sky and thought of a wish to make, finally settling on, _I wish that this trip won’t end in some horrible disaster._ “Okay, done. What was yours?”

“You can’t say it out loud.” Komaeda looked up at the stars with a small smile. “It won’t come true unless it’s a secret.” 

Hinata tilted his head to glance at him. There were stars in Komaeda’s gray-green eyes, and he was looking at the sky with the most genuine expression Hinata ever seen on his face. Hinata decided that out here, in the moonlight, Komaeda didn’t really seem so terrible at all.

“Though, if I had to guess, you probably wished to join the Main Course, right?” Komaeda asked. “Kind of tragic, isn’t it? To want something that will never actually happen.”

And oh, right, _that’s_ why he and Komaeda didn’t get along. Whenever Hinata started thinking he and Komaeda might be able to be friends after all, Komaeda would ruin it.

_It had been nice while it lasted, though._

With a sigh of exasperation, Hinata pushed himself up onto his hands. “And, moment over,” he announced before standing up and pulling open the screen door. “We should go to sleep. We’re going to have to wake up early tomorrow if we want to end this trip as quickly as possible.” 

“...Of course.” Komaeda slowly followed behind him. “And, um. You really wouldn't be disgusted by sharing a bed again? Even after what happened this morning?”

Hinata shrugged. “I mean, it was embarrassing, but whatever. Just don’t do it again.”

_“You_ did that.”

“Shut up.” Hinata’s face flushed red. “I’m gonna go shower.” He turned away, but before he could go:

“A-and you’re _sure_ you don’t want me to sleep outside-”

“I’m sure,” he sighed, closing the bathroom door behind him.

* * *

By the time Hinata got back, Komaeda was already fast asleep. He'd still felt the need to place himself at the very edge of the bed, which was half-amusing and half-insulting. Hinata nudged him towards the middle before taking his own place on the other side and turning off the lamp. He rolled to his side, ready to fall asleep immediately, when he found himself looking right at Komaeda.

Komaeda looked deceptively calm when he was asleep, Hinata thought - all traces of his usual strange demeanor had been wiped away entirely, leaving behind a boy who seemed almost peaceful. It was odd to see him with his guard completely down: White hair falling into his face, dark eyelashes casting shadows across his cheeks. With the golden moonlight from outside, Komaeda looked close to angelic.

With a low laugh, Hinata rolled back to his own side of the bed and closed his eyes. After all, he knew Komaeda far too well for thoughts like that.


	4. day 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go wrong, as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> strap in for a long chapter tonight fellas!! (also, TW for a brief description of a panic attack about 2/3 of the way through!!)

_Oh, shit._

_It happened again._

Hinata woke up much as he had the previous morning; Komaeda clinging to his chest, one arm wrapped tightly around Komaeda’s waist, and Komaeda’s legs entwined with his. He felt warm all over, as if every part of him was touching some part of Komaeda.

It wasn’t nearly as startling as yesterday (which was a worrying enough thought on its own, actually), but it _was_ equally humiliating. He felt heat rise to his face as he shifted a bit, debating whether to push away Komaeda to wake him up or try to extract himself from the bed before Komaeda noticed their situation - but then he froze.

Because the thing was, Hinata was observant. He could pick up on things other people didn’t notice, and he really was smart, despite how often his friends still teased him about that one time he’d forgotten how many sides an octagon had. And with the clues in front of him right now, Hinata was completely sure of one thing: Komaeda was _already awake._

It was obvious, really; Komaeda’s breathing was far too unsteady, his body far too stiff to belong to someone sleeping. But the odd thing was, he hadn’t moved away from Hinata at all - they were just as close as they had been the last morning, and that brought one question to the front of Hinata’s mind.

“...Huh?” he grumbled, his voice still rough from sleep.

Komaeda’s eyes blinked open quickly, a poor imitation of someone who had just woken up. He pushed himself out of Hinata’s arms immediately, propping himself up on the other side of the bed. “Really, Hinata, _again?”_ His voice was condescending as ever, but his hands were twitchy, and he was refusing to make eye contact. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were doing this on purpose.”

Hinata paused, then, because _what._ He knew Komaeda had been awake. He couldn’t have been wrong about that, so why was Komaeda trying to pin their situation on him?

Maybe this had been Komaeda’s plan all along - he’d been waiting for Hinata to wake up just so he could purposefully humiliate him about their position. Perhaps that was assuming too much, though. Komaeda could have just been embarrassed, unsure how to avoid the awkwardness of yesterday. Maybe Hinata’s arm has kept him trapped there, and _that_ sure was a mortifying thought.

After all, It’s not like Komaeda would ever actually want to be close to him. He didn’t even like Hinata, so he had no reason to stay. Between the world’s most awkward high-five and how quickly Komaeda had fled the laundry room last night, Hinata had gotten the pretty clear message that Komaeda didn't want to get near the _‘Reserve Course trash.’_

Maybe Komaeda was just an asshole. He _was,_ and Hinata wasn't sure why he had to try so hard to convince himself of that these days. It was like ever since they’d gotten stuck with each other, some switch had gone off in Hinata's mind that had made him start seeing more to Komaeda. He was incredibly clever. He cared a lot about things. He was a real person, underneath everything. But that only made it worse, really, because now Hinata knew there was something - someone - he was missing out on.

He wished he could hate him. He wished he didn’t care. It would make everything a whole lot easier.

“Well? Any response, Reserve Course?” Komaeda lilted, breaking Hinata from his thoughts.

“Sure.” Without warning, Hinata picked up his pillow and lobbed it at Komaeda. It him him square in the face, knocking him back slightly, and Hinata grinned. 

Komaeda scowled and let out an affronted huff as the pillow landed in his lap, unruly hair all mussed up around his face. “Clingy _and_ childish? This is a new low for you, Hinata.”

“At least I’m not the guy who got taken down by a pillow.” Hinata rolled off the bed, stretching out his arms as he stood up. 

“That was a lucky hit.” Komaeda narrowed his eyes, clearly miffed. 

Hinata raised his eyebrows. “I thought _you_ were supposed to be the lucky one here,” he called over his shoulder as he started towards the bathroom.

“You _know_ that’s not how it works.” Komaeda raised the pillow at him threateningly. “Or do I have to explain it in simpler terms for someone of your intellect?”

“I’ll pass, thanks.” He turned around to lean against the bathroom doorway, feeling particularly vengeful. “Oh, and Komaeda?”

“Hm?”

“I know you weren’t actually asleep.”

Komaeda’s whole face went pink, and Hinata couldn't stop himself from laughing at the sight. That time Komaeda really did throw the pillow at him, but Hinata shut the bathroom door just before it hit.

* * *

They’d been driving for maybe two hours when the car broke down.

Logically, Hinata had been expecting the old piece of junk to sputter out at any minute, but it still felt like a punch to the gut when it did. He and Komaeda were now stuck on the turnoff of some small country road, surrounded by large fields of grass and a clear blue sky. They had to be miles from any sort of civilization - and, Hinata realized dismally as he opened his phone, miles away from any cell towers.

He slumped forwards and banged his forehead against the steering wheel in frustration. “I’m starting to think this car might have been more trouble than it’s worth,” he mumbled, dejected.

“Well, I knew something was going to go wrong eventually,” said Komaeda from the passenger seat. “At least there’s no one trying to stab us again, right?” He quickly glanced out the window, and, seeing no potential murderers, turned back. “Yeah. No stabbers.”

“You really had to _check?”_

They both got out of the car to look at the engine. There was a concerning amount of smoke pouring from under the hood, which was already dented and scratched in several places. Hinata supposed that, really, he'd gotten what he paid for - nothing.

“...Alright,” he muttered, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “We can think of a plan here. Uh, I’ll go walk around until my phone gets service, then call Soda to figure out how to fix the car. You stay here and try to get it started with with some… luck… thing.” 

Komaeda turned towards him, mildly amused. “A luck thing. Of course.”

“Just-” he tossed up his hands. “You know what I mean.”

Hinata had been walking down the side of the road for a while when his phone finally got a single, precious bar of service. It was fading in and out, so he climbed up onto a small stone fence on the edge of the road, holding his phone up in the air. The bar finally seemed steady, so he opened up his contacts and called Soda, turning on speaker phone and waiting for his friend to pick up.

“Hey, soul bro!" Soda's voice crackled to life on the other line. "You coming back soon?”

“Not… quite.” Hinata wobbled on the fence, grimacing. “I need your help again, buddy.”

“You better not ask for anything else illegal!”

“That was _one time.”_

“Still, leaves an impression, bro!" said Soda. "Can’t have people thinking I associate myself with that kinda lifestyle, ya know?”

Hinata stared down Soda's contact photo, which showed him in full pink-haired, sharp-toothed glory. “...Have you taken a look in the mirror recently?”

“Hey!” Soda yelped, offended. “Oi, Nidai! C’mere! Hinata’s insultin’ my sexy vibe!”

“It’s not very manly to diss a friend's vibe, Hinata!” Nidai’s voice boomed from the other line. 

“...My bad.” 

“Gahaha, it’s alright! Live and learn!” Nidai laughed. “How’s your road trip going, by the way?”

Hinata paused to adjust his balance on the fence. “That’s what I was calling about, actually. Our car just broke down in the middle of nowhere, and I need some help,” he explained. “Also, again, let me clarify - _not a road trip.”_

“Woah, wait, your car really just broke down out of nowhere?” Soda let out a low whistle. “Well, that’s what ya get for trusting in shoddy workmanship. If I’d been there to fix it, this never woulda happened.”

“Yes, Soda,” Hinata sighed. “That’s why I called you.”

“Have you tried pushing it?” Nidai asked, leaning in closer to the phone.

“Pushing the car? Like, all the way back to Tokyo?” Hinata rolled his eyes on instinct, glad the other boys couldn’t see him. “Somehow, the thought never really crossed my mind.”

“Your lack of spirit is _disappointing!”_ Nidai roared.

“Nah, man, Hinata’s right,” interjected Soda. “Can you imagine Komaeda pushing a car? The guy probably weighs, like, 90 pounds soaking wet. He’s tiny.”

“He’s taller than you,” said Hinata, mostly just on impulse.

Soda huffed on the other line. “There you go again, dissing my vibe!"

“Okay, just - what do I do here, dude?” Hinata asked desperately. “And please don’t tell me to build a car robot again.”

“I got you here, bro.” From the other end of the phone, Hinata could hear Soda crack his knuckles. “This is my zone. You ready? You might wanna write this shit down, man. It’s gonna be mind-blowing, I tell ya.”

Hinata didn’t end up writing it down, but he kept repeating Soda’s instructions over and over again in his head as he walked back towards the car. As long as Komaeda still had his multi-tool, it would actually be pretty easy - turned out Soda’s talent really had come in handy after all.

Eventually, Hinata made it back to where he’d started, spotting the distant figure of Komaeda in one of the fields. He ran up towards him, his breathing slightly rushed as he looked up to face him. “Alright, I talked to Soda, he said to-” Hinata stopped mid-sentence when he glanced at the road - something had clearly gone very, very wrong after he’d left. He took a deep breath and whirled around to his side. “Hey, Komaeda. Why is the car on _fire?”_

“Oh, is it?” Komaeda looked down, feigning innocence as he scuffed at the dirt with his shoe. “I hadn’t noticed.” 

“You _hadn’t noticed,”_ Hinata repeated, dumbfounded, as he watched the flames spread across the car.

“Nope!” 

Hinata let out a deep breath, anxiety rising up in his gut. “Shit, okay, is this your- I dunno, part of your luck cycle?”

“Ah, no. This is actually completely on purpose!” Komaeda chimed, then frowned. “You’re going to want to cover your ears, Hinata.” 

_“What?”_ he asked incredulously. “No! I’m going to try and put out the fire!”

“I _really_ wouldn’t recommend that!” Komaeda replied, voice rising as Hinata started walking across the field towards the car.

He didn’t make it far, though, given that he was tackled down to the grass by Komaeda after he’d barely taken a step forward. Hinata went weightless for half a second, then felt a dull thud as his back hit the ground. His hands reflexively gripped Komaeda’s thin waist to stop the other boy from crashing into him, which left Komaeda arched over him, hands pressed down on his chest. He practically pinning Hinata to the ground, long legs boxing him in on either side of his hips. Momentarily dazed, Hinata stared up at Komaeda, who was looking back down at him with mirrored intensity, all wide green eyes and labored breath. Hinata couldn’t decide if he wanted to kill him or kiss him.

_And fuck, he must have hit his head pretty hard, because who the hell would think something like that?_

Hinata desperately shook himself back to reality. He had _several_ questions he wanted to ask Komaeda, but before he could start to say anything, he was cut off by a sudden booming explosion from the direction of the car.

For a moment, Hinata froze - then jolted back to reality, ears ringing, head pounding, heart racing. Still disoriented, he found it in himself to look at his surroundings, and quick glace to his left informed Hinata that the car had, in fact, exploded. Stunned, he looked back up at Komaeda. He was still pinning Hinata to the ground, his hair was flying in the wake of the blast, and his eyes were gleaming with a strange, intense fanaticism. Hinata knew he should be afraid, but he found the sight oddly fascinating. 

_Woah. Komaeda saved me from that explosion,_ he thought distantly.

His next realization, however, was much more jarring: _Komaeda blew up the car._

“Komaeda,” he said weakly, still breathless from the fall. “What the _fuck?”_

“Isn’t destruction for the sake of hope beautiful, Hinata?” Komaeda wheezed from above him. “What better way to offset the despair of the car breaking down that by destroying that despair at its very source!”

 _“Komaeda,”_ he echoed, utterly distraught.

“Besides, I figured someone would see the explosion and come help us.” 

Hinata scowled up at him furiously. “That someone is probably going to be the police. Who are going to arrest us. For _crimes.”_

“Oh.” Komaeda frowned, then shrugged. “Haha, I guess so!” 

“Oh, fuck," Hinata hissed. “Fuck, fuck, _fuck._ What the hell is wrong with you?”

Komaeda paused. “Do you want a list, or-”

Hinata stared at him, mildly horrified. “No, I don’t want a list.” He thumped his head back against the ground, staring up at the sky and wondering how the fuck he got himself into this situation. Laying on a field. Watching his hotwired car burn to ash. Nagito Komaeda still perched on his lap, which, _huh._

“Get off,” he muttered, pushing himself up on his hands. Komaeda, as if just realizing where he still was, quickly jumped to his feet. Hinata followed him up, the world still spinning a bit under his feet. He wobbled for a bit before righting himself. “We gotta get out of here before someone finds us,” he said, his voice more empty and resigned than he’d ever heard it sound before.

* * *

They trudged up the road for a few miles before Hinata let them slow down - he needed to put a safe distance between them and what _used to be_ their car. Komaeda had tried to speak once or twice, but Hinata had silenced him with a withering glare each time.

They’d kept walking along the side of the street, trying to flag down a car to give them a ride. Both had been completely unsuccessful so far, as the cars were few and far between, but Hinata was too stubborn to quit yet.

At this point, though, he was starting to get desperate. He saw a minivan approaching, and he jumped at the opportunity, quickly sticking out his thumb. The van, however, sped right past him, not sparing him a second glance. 

He hung his head miserably as he continued walking along the side of the road. “...They didn’t stop,” he muttered, mostly to himself.

“Typical Reserve Course,” Komaeda called from behind him, apparently taking that as a conversation opener. “Can you do _anything_ right?” he said, his voice like claws sinking into Hinata’s skin.

Hinata finally stopped walking, standing dead in his tracks. He tightened his hands into fists and let out a long, tired breath, staring blankly ahead. “Y’know, Komaeda, I like to think that I’m a good person,” he started, voice strained. “And I’ve tried my best to put up with all of the shit you give me about being in the Reserve Course. But I’m so tired of this. I really, really am. Now you’ve destroyed our only way back home, and you’ve gotten us stranded here, and I don’t know _why!”_

He heard Komaeda hesitate behind him, then ask, “Why _what,_ Hinata?”

Hinata finally turned around and threw his hands in the air. “Why do you hate me so much? What did I _do?”_ he demanded, cursing the hurt that seeped into his voice.

Komaeda’s eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and just continued to stare at Hinata. He was almost trembling, and he bit his lip before he spoke. “...I don’t hate you,” he said eventually. His voice was low and shaky, as if he was struggling to even get the words out.

Hinata’s scowl deepened. “Really, Komaeda? Because that’s sure what it feels like from here.”

“I wish I did hate you.” Komaeda was looking down, frustrated and a bit sad. “I wish I could. I tried _make_ myself hate you by pretending you were just some talentless Reserve Course deadweight, but even that didn’t work!”

“So you’re trying to put me on your level? Is that it?” Hinata hated how his voice came out halted and unsteady instead of angry like he wanted. “You think we’re both talentless _'stepping stones for hope,'_ or whatever, and you want to say we’re the same because we both feel talentless. You can say that all you want, but at least I’m not miserable about it!”

“Are you sure about that, Hinata?” Komaeda taunted. “You don’t want to admit it, but you care about talent just as much as I do.”

“Maybe we’re both miserable, then!” he exclaimed. “But you shouldn’t be! Because the truth is, you actually _have_ a talent. That’s the one thing I’ve always wanted. Do you have any idea what I would do to be like you?”

“Do you have any idea what I would do to be like _you?”_ Komaeda demanded, then froze - that clearly wasn’t what he’d wanted to say. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, stunned by his own admission.

For his part, Hinata was equally confused. That hadn’t been at all what he was expecting from the other boy. “...What the hell does _that_ mean?” he asked, scowling.

Komaeda hesitated before speaking, as if he wasn’t sure he could actually get the words out. “...Well, your life is simple. Average. Boring.”

Hinata narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m waiting for the part where this gets nicer.”

Komaeda shook his head frantically. “But that’s just it! My luck has made my life a constant cycle of chaos and destruction! It’s the only thing I’m good for, but it’s also the thing that’s destroyed my life. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I was like you. I might have a family. I might have friends. I might-” He hesitated. “I- I might not be alone.”

Hinata paused. “You’re… jealous of me?”

“Yes!” he said, as if Hinata was finally getting it. “You’re supposed to be some talentless nobody, right? Then how can you do things that I can’t? You’re friends with my whole class! I unnerve them, but it’s like just being around you makes people feel calmer. And if I’d been left behind here without you, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere on this trip. You’re impossible, Hinata! Your very existence goes against everything I believe, and if I don’t have my beliefs, then I- I have nothing.” His voice was wavering. “You aren’t supposed to mean something to me, but you _do,_ and I don’t understand it!” Komaeda said, a bit desperate. “Why do I still care about you?”

“Well, I don’t hate you, either!” Hinata wasn’t really sure why he was still yelling. “That’s why it sucks so much when all you do is talk about the stupid Reserve Course! We’ve spent so much time together, and there’s been moments where I thought we could actually be, y’know. Friends. And I’ll always start thinking, _maybe this time will be different. It has to mean something this time._ But every single time, you turn around and call me a dumbass shit-for-brains reserve course student again!”

“Ah, I never used those exact words.”

Hinata sighed. “Paraphrasing, Komaeda.”

“...I shouldn’t have been so cruel to you,” Komaeda said quietly. “I’m sorry. I suppose, even though you weren’t born with talent… you’re relentless, Hinata. You don’t give up. You're the most stubborn person I've ever met. That’s something I can admire. It’s- it’s something I can _understand.”_

“Understand?”

“We both want to be more than we are. We both want to _mean_ something. To other people, to the world. Even to ourselves,” Komaeda said.

They stared at each other for a moment, and it felt like Hinata had been caught in the wake of an explosion all over again. Komaeda’s position mimicked his own, he noticed; fists clenched, leaning forwards, chest rising and falling unevenly. There was this desperate sort of conviction burning in Komaeda’s eyes, the same kind Hinata saw every time he looked in the mirror, stubborn and longing and holding on for dear life.

Komaeda’s lips parted slightly before closing again, as if he was figuring out what to say next. Before he could get it out, though, he was cut off by the blaring sound of a car horn.

In an instant, they both jumped back, whatever spell had come over them broken. Hinata looked to his side to see that a beat-up blue sedan had pulled up next to them and was now trying to get their attention. He gave an awkward wave, and the window rolled down to reveal a pretty light-haired woman with a cigarette hanging from her lips. 

“Need a ride?” she asked, her voice a casual drawl. 

“We really do,” Hinata answered desperately. He was willing to accept almost any help at this point, and this woman seemed... fairly trustworthy. At the very least, according to Komaeda’s logic, it would be almost impossible for any _more_ bad luck to happen to them that day. “Thanks.”

“Go ahead and hop in the back. The passenger seat’s full of random shit.” She tilted her head towards the backseat. 

Hinata went in first. One of the end seats was stacked with luggage, so he folded himself into the middle seat and placed his backpack at his feet. Komaeda slid in next to him, their legs brushing up against each other in such a small space. They'd been in closer proximity that usual today, for a lot of different reasons. Hinata was starting to think that maybe Komaeda didn't dislike the contact as much as he'd originally assumed.

“I’m Hinata, by the way.” He leaned forwards, figuring it would only be polite to introduce himself. “And this is my- my, um.” He hesitated. “My… Komaeda.” Immediately, Hinata wanted to smack himself for how that came out.

“Hinata and his Komaeda, huh?” she said. Hinata felt himself blush as she shot them an exaggerated wink. “The name’s Hiroko Hagakure. Nice to meet ya.” 

“You, too.”

Hiroko slammed her foot down on the gas pedal, and the car shot back onto the road. “So what the hell are you two boys doing out here alone?” she called over her shoulder.

“We got left behind on a class trip,” Komaeda explained. “So unlucky, right?”

Hiroko snorted. “I’ll say. What kind of a shitty school would even do something like that?” 

“Hope’s Peak, apparently,” Hinata answered.

He snuck a nervous glace Komaeda in anticipation of the boy’s comment. He feared Komaeda would attempt to point out that Hinata was just a Reserve Course student - but instead, he just nodded in agreement, which. _Huh._

“Hope’s Peak, huh?” Hiroko peered back at them for a second before swerving slightly and returning her attention to the road. “Small world! That’s where my son goes.” 

“What, really?” asked Hinata.

Hiroko nodded eagerly. “He’s probably a little older than you two. I’m very proud of him - he’s a very successful boy.” 

“Ah, what’s his talent?” Komaeda straightened up in his seat, suddenly interested. “I bet his hope shines brightly!” he added eagerly.

“He’s the Ultimate Clairvoyant! Pretty cool, right?” Hiroko cooed, motherly pride clear in her voice. 

Hinata watched as Komaeda’s hopeful expression instantly fell. “That’s the guy who tried to sell my _organs,”_ he whispered despondently.

Hinata had to stifle his laugh. “Dude, what the fuck,” he whispered back.

Komaeda shot him a half-pained, half-confused look, like _yeah, I don’t really get it either._

“-and I love the kid, but his troubles with money are gonna drive me crazy, I swear,” grumbled Hiroko. While Hinata had been distracted, apparently their driver had been going on her own tirade about her son. “Where are you guys headed, anyways?”

Hinata looked up. “Hakodate is the goal, but we’ll take anywhere south of here.”

“Nah, Hakodate’s fine. I’m headed someplace near there myself - I’ve gotta buy some new fancy crystal ball for my son, and this little shop there is the only place that stocks ‘em.”

“...Right.” Hinata shifted forwards. “D’you the best way back to the main island?”

“There’s a ferry across the strait that leaves fuck-early in the morning. I'm not usually an early bird, but I used to be a _good friend_ of the captain, if you get my drift-” Suddenly, Hiroko slammed her hand on the horn as a car merged in front of her. “Hey, turn your goddamn blinker on, asshole!”

* * *

Hinata zoned out for the rest of the car ride, arms crossed and head tilted down. It had only just gotten dark out and this had already been one of the longest days of his life. He was half-asleep by the time he felt the car skid to a stop, and he yawned, blinking his bleary eyes open. 

“Here’s your stop, boys,” announced Hiroko from the driver’s seat.

Hinata pushed himself up and looked out the window; they’d ended up parked in front of an inn, mountains visible in the distance. Komaeda was already stepping out of the car, and Hinata followed behind him, stumbling a bit when his feet hit the ground.

Hiroko leaned out of the window, shooting them a wide grin. “You two boys care of yourselves, okay?”

“Will do!” chimed Komaeda with a polite smile. “Thank you again for the ride. We are truly lucky to have received your benevolence.”

“Any time,” she drawled, leaning back into her seat. “And make sure you tell my no-good son to pay off his debts to the yakuza!” With that, Hiroko sped away, the wheels of her sedan screeching against the asphalt.

Everything around Hinata felt sightly off-center as he stepped into the inn. His brain was almost on auto-pilot as he spoke to the receptionist, and he didn’t even remember which room he’d booked, but he must have gotten there somehow, because he’d ended up staring blankly at the tiled bathroom wall. Komaeda had left for - something. Water, maybe, but even that was just a guess. Hinata could feel the world swaying beneath his feet, and his vision was getting blurry, and his chest felt tight. It was getting harder to breathe, and he was starting to panic. He climbed into the bathtub and sat down, hugging his knees to his chest and pressing his head down against them. He was rocking slightly, and his lungs felt like they were going to burst, and-

“Hey!” That was- that was Komaeda’s voice, and there were footsteps coming towards him, echoing off the white tile floor. “Hinata, are you okay?”

 _“Perfectly fucking fine,”_ Hinata managed to get out through wheezy, body-shaking breaths. He could barely recognize his own broken voice.

Komaeda paused, waited, then kneeled in front of the tub. “...It’s okay, Hinata. It’s okay. Just close your eyes.”

Despite himself, Hinata complied, shutting out his blurry vision.

“Now take a deep breath, okay? In and out, slowly. Feel the air fill your chest, regulate your breathing, just like that.”

Hinata tried to follow along. It took a few tries, but after a couple minutes, his breathing was back to a normal, if shaky, pace. He finally looked up and opened his eyes, and he was met with Komaeda staring back at him, concern written across his expression.

“...Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

“I’m fine now.” Hinata’s voice still sounded a bit choked up, but it was much better than before. He sat up slightly, propping his elbows on the back edge of the tub. “...Thanks. That was... actually pretty helpful.”

“You really don’t have to thank me,” Komaeda replied, then frowned. “Are you going to get out of the bathtub now?”

Hinata leaned back. “Not yet.”

Komaeda tilted his head in consideration, bit his lip, then stepped into the tub. Hinata slid to the far end to make room for him to sit down. He could only move so far, though; their elbows were still touching, thighs still pressed together. That made his chest feel tight for a whole different reason, one that he’d rather not think about.

Komaeda’s gaze flickered towards him. “...Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, then froze, an expression of regret crossing over his face. “Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume that you’d ever want to confide in _me.”_

“It’s... fine. It might actually help to sort it out with someone else.” Hinata shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. “No matter who they are.” 

He could hear Komaeda shift next to him before asking, “That was a panic attack, right?”

“Yeah,” Hinata said carefully. “I got them a lot back in first year, but… not so much anymore. I usually know how to stop them now, but sometimes I just get… overwhelmed, I guess.”

Komaeda nodded. “I understand. Even when you think you’re going to be able to deal with them, sometimes you just lose control.”

“...You have panic attacks too?” Hinata asked.

“Well, I used to get them all the time after my parents died. Had to find a way to deal with them pretty quickly after that.”

Hinata turned to him, wide-eyed. “I’m sorry. I- I didn’t know.”

Komaeda let out a sound that sounded almost like a laugh. “Of course you didn’t know. I didn’t tell you,” he said. “And you don’t have to apologize - especially not to someone like me.” He tilted his head down to stare at the bottom of bathtub. “It’s not like you did it. Besides, it was years ago.”

“I’m still sorry.”

 _“I’m_ the one who should be sorry,” said Komaeda. “After all, I’m the one who killed them.”

Hinata jolted back, knocking his head against the tile. “You - _what?”_

“Oh, no. Hm. I probably could have phrased that better.” Komaeda trailed a shaky finger across the bathtub floor. “It’s my luck that killed them, really. It happened back in elementary school. I’d just gone on vacation with my family, and we’d boarded an airplane back home. But surprise, surprise! After we boarded, the plane was hijacked! But then, out of nowhere, this tiny meteorite fell at exactly the right time - it struck the hijacker and prevented any further problems.” His voice was getting smaller and smaller. “But… the meteorite also hit my parents, and they died instantly. You might think that’s a terrible act of bad luck - but in the end, I obtained my freedom and an immense inheritance. So maybe it was actually good luck after all.”

 _...Well, that explained why Komaeda hadn’t wanted to catch a plane back to Tokyo._ Hinata stared at the other boy, sympathy sending a pang through his chest. That… definitely explained a lot about Komaeda. Hinata thought that if he’d grown up like that, he had no idea how he might have turned out.

“Now I’m _really_ sorry,” he said. “No one should have to go through that.”

“Ah, well. Things like this have happened so many times, I’ve begun to believe it’s what I deserve. I invite tragedy simply by existing.” Komaeda idly tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. “This is just how my life goes, so there’s really no reason to pity me.”

“It’s not pity,” Hinata urged. “I just- I don’t want you to feel like you deserved all those things that happened to you. I mean, you- it’s not your fault. You know that, right?”

When he finally looked up, Komaeda was staring at him, wide-eyed.

“...Komaeda?”

“I was only kidding anyways!” Komaeda exclaimed suddenly, his voice sounding tight and high-strung in a way it hadn’t before. “That’s all- It’s not true. I was making it up, you see? It’s just something I read in a book once.”

Hinata felt his stomach drop, incredibly betrayed. Of course Komaeda was fucking with him again, of course it didn't mean anything - _except._ Komaeda’s hands were shaking. He wouldn’t have been able to feel it if they hadn’t been sitting so close, but they were definitely shaking.

“Yeah, no. Bullshit.”

Komaeda blinked. “I- what?”

Hinata scowled. “Bullshit, Komaeda. I may not have an actual talent, but I’m pretty damn good at knowing when people are lying.”

Komaeda looked down, sighed, then looked back up at Hinata. “Well,” he said quietly, “for both of our sakes, I think it’s better if you pretend I never told you this.”

Hinata wanted to protest, but thought the better of it. He bit his lip and nodded. 

For a moment, neither one of them spoke. Hinata felt cool tile through the thin fabric of his shirt as drummed his fingers against the edge of the tub. He shifted slightly, turning to look at Komaeda.

“...So you’re rich, huh?”

“You could say that,” replied Komaeda.

“Explains why you’ve been paying for all our hotel rooms.”

“Yes, well.” He glanced at Hinata, a small, barely-there smile on his lips. “I do what I can to help the less fortunate.”

Hinata snorted and elbowed him softly in the ribs. “Shut up.”

In response, Komaeda knocked his knee against Hinata’s. “Oh, sure. Anything for Hinata.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hinata rolled his eyes and knocked Komaeda back.

Komaeda tilted sideways, grabbing onto the faucet for support. Unfortunately for both of them, he must have grabbed the handle, because Hinata suddenly found himself drenched in cold water. Sputtering out a laugh, he squinted up to see the shower raining down on both of them. Komaeda quickly turned the handle back, frowning as he wiped water from his eyes before sending Hinata an apologetic look. 

“I’m so sorry, Hinata! Not only have you been forced to spend time with trash like me and hear about my pathetic life, but you’ve also had to experience my terrible luck,” he said quickly. 

“It’s... fine. I probably needed a shower, anyways.” He dragged a hand across his face and knocked his head back against the wall. “I dunno what we’re supposed to do now, though.”

“...There’s an onsen out back?” suggested Komaeda hesitantly. “I could see it from the lobby. We can go there while our clothes dry. Ah, if you want, I mean. You don't have to say yes.”

“Yeah. That works.”

* * *

It was pretty late, so they were the only two out there. The water went up to Hinata’s shoulders, comforting and warm, a nice contrast to the cooler northern air around him. He could see mountains in the distance and trees reaching up into the night sky, far beyond the twinkling lights of the city. The only sounds were the hum of cicadas and the steam hissing up from the water. He closed his eyes and slouched down, letting himself relax.

“...Hinata?” Komaeda’s voice was small, but it was enough to break Hinata from his thoughts.

Hinata had thought they were going by the unspoken rule of _not_ talking here, but whatever. He sighed, cracked open his eyes, and turned to the left to see Komaeda staring at him, an unreadable expression on his pale face.

“...Yeah?” he mumbled, turning forwards again.

“Earlier, when we were… talking. By the side of the road,” Komaeda said quietly. “You told me- you said that you used to think we could have been friends.”

Hinata nodded along distantly, preparing himself for the inevitable rejection. For Komaeda to tell him he would never even _consider_ being friends with a Reserve student, to scoff at the mere idea of it, to laugh right in his face.

But Komaeda did none of those things. Instead, he let out a small breath, and said, very nervously, “Did you really mean it?”

Hinata finally snuck a glance at him. Komaeda was very pointedly looking away from him, still staring upwards, but even from here Hinata could see the doubt on his face. He looked almost _terrified,_ and Hinata suddenly recognized that he was scared of being rejected, too. This was a turning point, he realized. Something was about to change here. He could feel it. So when Hinata turned back towards the sky, he decided to be brave. “I still do.”

And then he could could practically _feel_ the way Komaeda froze up next to him. “...That’s not very funny, Hinata,” Komaeda replied eventually.

“Yeah, well,” he said. “It wasn’t a joke.”

Komaeda turned towards him quickly, disbelief clearly written across his face. There was water sliding down his bare collarbone, and Hinata forced himself to keep his eyes on Komaeda's face. “...Friends?” he repeated, as if he didn’t quite believe that was what Hinata had actually said. “You would really still want to be friends with someone as worthless as me? Even after I’ve been so- so _repulsive_ to be around?”

“You weren’t _all_ bad.” Hinata shrugged. “I mean, you did save me from getting stabbed. That's gotta count for something.”

“I suppose, but I also blew up our car.”

“Yeah,” Hinata said, a wry smile creeping over his face. “But you made sure I was out of the blast radius.”

Komaeda just shook his head. “But I'm _also_ the reason we've kept getting lost!”

Hinata narrowed his eyes. “Are you seriously trying to talk me out of being friends with you?”

“I… I don’t think it would be safe.” Komaeda looked down.

“Yeah, but do you _want_ to?”

Komaeda nodded quickly.

“It’s settled, then.” Hinata looked at him, a small, tired smile on his face. “We’re friends.”

* * *

At least they finally had two beds. The inn was a traditional Japanese kind of place, which meant rolling out tatami mats and futons on the floor. Hinata didn't sleep like that often, but he'd always felt well-rested when he did, and he probably could have passed out anywhere after the day he’d had. He and Komaeda had set up their futons on opposite sides of the room, which made sense, given their track record of sleeping next to each other. If he woke up spooning Komaeda again, he might actually die of embarrassment.

By the time he finally got his futon set up, Komaeda was already tucked into his. Hinata stood up to turn off the lights, then collapsed onto his futon, exhaustion making his whole body feel heavy.

It was slightly odd, though, without Komaeda laying next to him. He didn’t _miss_ it, or anything, it was just - different, he supposed, to feel his presence across the room without being able to touch him.

Not that he _wanted_ to touch him.

Hinata screwed his eyes shut, trying to focus on anything besides the boy across the room from him. Before he let himself drift off, though, he made himself say one more thing.

“...G’night, Komaeda."

“...Goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> personally i think it's very funny that the days and chapters do not match up. god told me to write but she sure didn't teach me how to count


	5. day 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: Hajime Hinata's 100% guaranteed guide to making new friends.

“Wake up, Hinata.” 

“...Ugh.” Hinata, still half-asleep, buried his face in his pillow to block out the noise coming from above him. 

“C’mon, you have to get up soon if we want to catch the ferry. You don’t want to be stuck here with me for an extra day, right?” 

Hinata pulled up the blankets and screwed his eyes shut tighter.

“...I brought coffee?”

_That_ one worked. Hinata sat up and rubbed at his eyes, slowly adjusting to the early morning light of the room. Komaeda was standing over his futon, already dressed, holding two paper cups in his hands as he looked down at Hinata with wide green eyes.

Hinata stretched out his arms, shivering as the blanket slipped off his shoulders. He almost wished he’d slept next Komaeda again, because at least that had kept him warm. _Not in a weird way, or anything,_ he told himself. More like a heating blanket. Or socks.

Standing up quickly, he grabbed the coffee from Komaeda and swallowed down a large gulp. _He really needed to stop thinking in the morning._

* * *

They’d barely made it to the ferry on time. Hinata’s aversion to waking up early and Komaeda’s complete lack of direction had forced them on a mad dash through the streets of Hakodate until they finally found the docks. 

Being so late meant that the inside of the ferry was already crowded, so they’d been forced to go to the otherwise empty top deck. The boat swayed beneath Hinata’s feet as it drifted on the ocean waves, sending wind and salt against his face. The view was nice - cloudy sky tinged pink by the sunrise, blue-green water all around, seabirds flying overhead - Hinata just wished it wasn’t so cold. He tugged his uniform jacket tighter around his shoulders as he sat down next to Komaeda on the deck, leaning back against the railing. 

Neither spoke for a while; Hinata was still waking up, taking occasional sips of his now-lukewarm coffee, and Komaeda… well.

Since last night, Komaeda had just been _looking_ at him. Whenever Hinata sent a glance in the other boy’s direction, Komaeda would already be staring at him with some intense and unreadable expression on his face. (When their eyes met, though, Komaeda would always freeze and look away, as if he’d caught himself doing something he shouldn’t.) Hinata was half-convinced Komaeda was going to take back everything nice he’d said and try to kill him right then and there.

It was clear that whatever small universe existed between them had shifted on its axis, leaving them both unsteady in the wake. At least they weren’t fighting, but now it was just… silent. The only dialogue they’d had since they stepped onto the ferry was Komaeda’s incredibly awkward opening line of, _'Do you like boats?'_

Hinata wanted to start some sort of a conversation, but he couldn’t drag up a single thing to talk about. Asking about the weather was sure to bore them both, talking about Hope’s Peak would just be awkward, and _hey, remember when you blew up our car?_ felt a bit too confrontational for small talk.

He was beginning to realize he didn’t actually know that much about Komaeda. For as out-there as the guy seemed, he was actually pretty guarded about his personal life. Hinata wanted to know more, though, and he supposed the only way to do that was to ask.

“Hey,” he said, knocking his knee against Komaeda’s. “Tell me something about yourself.”

Komaeda looked up at him with a slightly puzzled expression. “Well, I tend to have better luck on boats than planes,” he started, “so we’ll probably be fi-”

“Something _not_ related to your talent,” Hinata interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

“...Not related to my talent,” Komaeda repeated blankly.

“Or hope, or despair, or any of that. Talk about your hobbies, or things you like to do. Y’know, like. Friend stuff.” At the blank look on Komaeda’s face, Hinata rolled his eyes. “You do know what friends are, right?” 

_“Yes,”_ muttered Komaeda unconvincingly. “I’m just… not quite sure what you expect me to say.”

Hinata felt his edges soften a bit, and he had to remind himself that this wasn’t the same Komaeda as before. Trying to start over, he attempted an encouraging smile. “We agreed to be friends, right? Friends are supposed to know random stuff about each other.”

Komaeda bit his lip. “Perhaps you can give me an example?”

“Yeah, okay,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Uh, my name is Hajime Hinata. I’m eighteen and I grew up in Ikebukuro. My favorite food is kusamochi, but I hate sakuramochi. I like video games and TV shows about detectives. I have a driver’s license, but not a car, and I ride a skateboard, even though I’m kind of bad at it. ”

“Um,” Komaeda tilted his head, deep in thought. His nose was slightly scrunched in concentration, and Hinata hated that it was just the smallest bit endearing. Komaeda seemed to think for a while before finally settling on, “...I like dogs?”

Hinata let out a surprised laugh. Out of everything Komaeda might have said, he really hadn’t been expecting that. “Really?”

Komaeda looked down nervously. “Is that adequate?”

“Yeah, that’s great, Komaeda,” he assured. “Have you ever had a dog?” 

He nodded. “When I was a kid. His name was Lucky.” 

Hinata snickered. “Of course it was.” 

Komaeda glanced up at him. “Have you ever had a pet?”

“Nah. My parents’ apartment complex didn’t allow them, so the only animal I’ve ever taken care of was a hermit crab we passed around in elementary school.”

The edges of Komaeda’s lips twitched up. “Tanaka would be disappointed in you.” 

“You have no idea.” Hinata rolled his eyes. “He told me my magic essence capped out at a _lowly five.”_

“Well, you probably still have it better than me,” said Komaeda. “He thinks I’m a _chaos demon.”_

“Yeah, okay, you win.” Hinata grinned. “Alright, what else do you like?”

“...Reading,” Komaeda said after a moment. “I’m interested in all kinds of stories, but my favorites are psychological thrillers.” 

“That... doesn’t really surprise me.”

“I like English murder mystery novels, too.” Komaeda seemed to actually be getting into this. Hinata felt a surge of pride and something else he couldn’t quite name as he watched Komaeda continue. “My favorite food is onigiri. I tend to like salty things more than sweet ones. I’ve been told I’m good at chess, though I’m not sure if that’s just my luck or if I’m somehow actually skilled at something. My favorite color is green. I can’t get rid of my bedhead no matter what I do, and I’ve never seen a normal three-leaf clover in real life before.” When Komaeda finally looked back at him, he seemed to realize how much he’d said, and an embarrassed expression quickly settled over his face. “Ah! I’m sorry for burdening you with such useless information! Of course you don’t care about all of that! You’re free to forget about all of it! Erase it from your memory, even!” 

“I do care, Komaeda. That’s why I asked,” he said, just a little bit fond. _Maybe talking to Komaeda wasn’t actually the worst thing in the world._

“It’s just, I... haven’t really had many friends before,” Komaeda confessed. “So I apologize if I’m doing it wrong.”

“You’re doing fine,” Hinata said. “You don’t have to worry so much, alright? Think of this as a new beginning.

Komaeda tilted his head, leaning back against the railing. “That’s kind of funny.”

“You think?”

“Well, your given name means beginning, right?”

Hinata blinked, surprised Komaeda had thought about something like that. “That’s the pronunciation, yeah, but the kanji it’s written with is different.” 

“What is it, then?”

“It’s-” Hinata paused, dug around his backpack, and finally pulled out a sharpie. “Here. Uh, give me your hand.” 

Komaeda dutifully put out his palm, and Hinata loosely held his wrist to keep it in place. With his other hand, he carefully wrote out his given name. When he was satisfied, he capped the pen and let go of Komaeda’s hand. In the center of Komaeda’s palm, written in dark marker and slightly messy handwriting, was the kanji 創.

“Ah.” Komaeda looked down, wide-eyed. “Is that, um. Permanent marker?”

“Oh.” Hinata nervously twirled the marker around in his fingers. “Yeah, I guess. Sorry.” 

“You don’t have to apologize.” Komaeda still hadn’t looked away from his hand. “...It’s kind of nice.”

A seagull cawed overhead, and the boat continued on.

* * *

The boat docked in Aomori just before noon. Hinata had found a community bulletin board near the edge of the docks, and he was searching for the number of a car rental place or a taxi company. Komaeda stood next to him, watching the ocean as he leaned back against the board.

“I don’t think we’re gonna find anything helpful here,” Hinata said, frowning as he turned to Komaeda.

“Perhaps we might ask one of my classmates for assistance,” offered Komaeda. “After all, I’m always eager for the opportunity to witness their talents in action!”

“Huh. That’s not a bad idea.” Hinata tilted his head in thought. “Soda might have some connections with auto garages around here… Sonia could get us… I dunno, what do princesses drive?”

“In my experience?” said Komaeda. “Tanks.”

Hinata grinned. “We could ask Kuzuryuu, if you don’t mind driving a car that’s definitely been used to commit several crimes.”

“Not much different than our last car, then.”

“...Good point.”

Hinata turned back to the board, scouring it for anything helpful. He still wasn’t finding much of anything, but his eyes kept falling on a ridiculously bright pink sheet of paper. As he took it down, he looked closer at the design. In a large, messy font, the flyer stated that a band called ‘Punk-11037’ was playing as part of an underground concert in downtown Aomori later that night. He was about to put the concert flyer back, regarding it as a lost cause, before he was overcome with the strange feeling that he recognized something he’d read. “Hey, Komaeda.” Hinata looked up to face him. “Do you recognize the name Leon Kuwata?” 

Komaeda nodded eagerly, his eyes taking on a near-fanatic gleam. “Kuwata is in the class below mine at Hope’s Peak! His talent is the Ultimate Baseball Player. He plays with Japan’s national team, even though he’s just a teenager, and it’s even been rumored that he can pitch at over 160 kilometers per hour!” 

“...He’s a baseball player?” Hinata narrowed his eyes. “Then why the hell is he in this band?” He pointed to the text on the flyer reading _‘featuring EXTREMELY TALENTED and WILDLY ATTRACTIVE lead singer LEON KUWATA.’_

Komaeda leaned in, looking at the flyer with renewed curiosity. “There’s been rumors that Kuwata wants to get his talent changed to the Ultimate Rockstar. I knew he’d been practicing with Mioda, but I had no idea he was taking it this far! What incredible dedication to talent!” 

“Is he any good?” Hinata asked. 

“I guess we’ll find out!” Komaeda chimed. 

“Find out?” Hinata scoffed. “We are _not_ going to this.”

“Do I really have to spell this out for you?” Komaeda sighed. “If we go to Kuwata’s concert, we’ll be able to talk to him afterwards. He must have come here from Hope’s Peak, and he’s going to have to return there, right?” 

“So we can catch a ride back with him!” Hinata concluded. “Oh, shit. That’s actually a really good plan, Komaeda.” _Especially given that his last plan had been blowing up their only mode of transportation._ Hinata shoved the flyer in his pocket, then looked up. “Y’know, the concert’s not until nine. We have some time to kill.”

“...To kill _who?”_

“Oh my _god,_ that’s not-” Hinata groaned. “I meant time to, like, explore the city. Get food. Buy things.”

“Oh.” Komaeda paused. “...That does make more sense. I suppose if we’re going to be shopping, I’d like to buy new clothes.” 

“...Good point,” Hinata said, grimacing as he looked down at himself. “Our old ones are kinda covered in saltwater.”

“And mud,” added Komaeda.

“And explosion debris.” Hinata looked up, directing his gaze towards the city. “Alright, then. Let’s go.”

As they started walking up the road, Komaeda turned towards him again. “...Just to be clear, we _aren’t_ killing anyone, right?”

_“Please_ stop talking.”

* * *

They stopped at a thrift store first. Komaeda seeming to be putting actual effort into picking clothes, but Hinata just grabbed a couple things that looked like they might fit. Aside from that one time he’d relented to let Ibuki and Tanaka give him a makeover, he’d never really thought too much about what he wore.

Hinata bought a small pile of whatever he could find, then grabbed a random shirt and pair of jeans to take with him into the dressing room. After he finished changing, he tossed his uniform in his backpack and turned to look at himself in the mirror. The jeans fit pretty well, if a bit baggy, but the shirt was another story. It was tight and black and absolutely a size too small as it clung to his chest. Hinata wasn’t ashamed of how he looked, exactly - he’d trained with Nidai enough times to know that he had a _‘surprisingly toned physique,’_ but that didn’t make it any less embarrassing to wear the shirt in public.

But, well. He’d already bought it, so he just shrugged at his reflection and stepped out of the dressing room. And whether it was bad luck or just coincidence, Komaeda exited his own dressing room at the exact same time. 

“Ah...Hinata?” Komaeda was staring at him again, but unlike earlier, he was devoutly refusing to make eye contact. “That’s an, um. Interesting outfit!” 

“That feels like a joke when _you_ say it,” Hinata replied, gesturing to Komaeda’s new clothes. “What is that, a wallet chain?”

He was tempted to call Komaeda’s ensemble fitting of an emo boy-band reject, and he might have said it out loud if it didn’t look so stupidly good on him. Komaeda’s long legs were complimented by tight black skinny jeans, ripped at the knees, and the aforementioned skull wallet chain. He’d paired the jeans with a short-sleeved red shirt - which made sense, given that they were driving south in the middle of summer, but was different than anything Hinata had ever seen him in before.

“Is this really how you dress outside of school?” he asked. It came out fonder than he’d wanted it to, but he did actually want to know. This felt like he was seeing a whole new part of Komaeda. Something Komaeda trusted him to see. 

“I did the best I could, given the circumstances.” Komaeda glanced at himself in the mirror. “Am I really that repulsive to look at?” 

“Not what I meant,” Hinata said. “You look… nice, Komaeda.” It wasn’t a lie, either. 

“And you look-” Komaeda still wouldn’t meet his eyes, which was starting to feel intentional. “Um.”

As a last resort, Hinata grabbed a tacky Hawaiian shirt from a nearby sale rack and shrugged it on as a second layer. “There. Now I’m _decent.”_

Komaeda looked him over again. “I really don’t think that’s better.”

“Too late. This is your fault now.” 

“This must be why they don’t let you dress yourselves in the Reserve Course,” said Komaeda. 

Hinata immediately glared at him - he’d thought they were over this. Oddly, though, Komaeda didn’t look condescending - he was covering his mouth with one hand, letting out small puffs of breath, and _oh,_ he was laughing.

“Wow, he has jokes,” Hinata deadpanned. “I didn’t know I was talking to the Ultimate Comedian.” 

“They’d never give me a title like that!”

Hinata raised his eyebrows. “You’re right. They wouldn’t.”

A wry smile came over Komaeda’s face. “Now who’s being rude, hm?”

“Still you.”

* * *

With their one task now completed, Hinata was a bit lost on what to do next. He still felt just a bit like he was walking on eggshells - after spending so much time locked in opposition with Komaeda, their friendship was fragile. Like if either of them pushed too hard, something was going to break.

Either way, it seemed easier to leave than to stay there. So he and Komaeda set out aimlessly around the city for the rest of the afternoon, stopping at whatever stores or tourist attractions looked interesting. There was a small beachside shrine, rice fields designed to look like paintings, a museum full of festival floats and lanterns. Aomori was pretty, Hinata decided. Despite the circumstances, he was glad he was there.

Of course, the whole time, Komaeda kept him supplied with facts about the city he had absolutely no reason to know. Like, ‘this is the northernmost prefecture on the main island,’ or, ’there’s a mountain around here rumored to be one of the gates to the underworld!’ or, ‘did you know that Aomori is the number one apple producer in Japan?’

(That last one was true, by the way. There was apple-themed stuff _everywhere._ Hinata even let Komaeda talk him into trying apple-flavored ice cream, which was surprisingly great.)

Hinata pulled Komaeda into some sushi restaurant as soon as it started to get dark, feeling especially hungry after a full day of exploring the city. They fought over food with chopsticks and almost knocked Komaeda’s glass of water off the table, snickering the whole time.

It was weird, when Hinata thought about it - five days ago, if someone had told him that he would be having actual, genuine fun with his _friend Komaeda,_ he would have laughed in their face.

* * *

By the time they managed to find the concert venue, Hinata was starting feel an inkling of doubt about their plan. 

The only way into the building was through an alley, which had lead the two of them to an old door covered in various flyers and stickers. Hinata tilted his head, hearing the faint sounds of music thumping from inside.

“This venue is kinda suspicious-looking, huh?” he said.

“It’s… not quite what I was expecting of an Ultimate,” Komaeda agreed, wrinkling his nose. 

“Well, we’ve already made it this far.” Hinata shrugged. “Let’s just head in.” 

He pulled open the door, and the two were immediately hit with a wall of pure noise. The venue was on the smaller side, but still large enough to fit a pretty significant crowd. Brightly colored spotlights were the only source of brightness slashing through the dark of the room. People were cheering as they crowded around the stage, on top of which a group of girls were playing instruments loudly. 

Hinata gestured to the reception booth and Komaeda followed. They paid for tickets, got their hands stamped, and continued into the crowd. 

“Man, Ibuki would love this place,” marveled Hinata. He quickly snapped a picture of the band with his phone and sent it to her, and a few seconds later, she responded.

_IBUKI☆彡: ur for realsies at a real-life concert???? color ibuki 31 flavors of jealous (╥﹏╥)_

_Me: pretty cool, right?_

_IBUKI☆彡: DUH!! now’s ur chance to do that awesome concert scream just like we practiced!! throw in some head banging too!! \\(≧▽≦)/_

_Me: i’m... probably not gonna do that._

_IBUKI☆彡: LAME-O (￢ε￢ )_

_IBUKI☆彡: yes, yes, yes, i see! this is why u require the instruction of wise master ibuki on the art of musical etiquette! only i can teach u to remove thoust head from thy ass!_

_Me: if that’s your weird way of inviting me to a concert, i accept._

_Me: in the case that i actually come back to tokyo alive._

_IBUKI☆彡: awww don’t u worry about that!!! i’d take nasty dead zombie hinata to concerts, too!! even if he was all stinky and decomposing like a pumpkin after valentine’s day!!!!!! o(* >ω<*)o_

_Me: u really need to learn what analogies are._

_IBUKI☆彡: i know what an analogy is!! it’s like a thought with another thought’s hat on!!!!!!!_

_Me: that’s not even close to right._

_IBUKI☆彡: well u text like an old man!!_

_Me: i do not._

_IBUKI☆彡: c’mon, spice it up!!!!! give ibuki an emoji ☆⌒( ∂ ¬ < )_

_Me: no._

_IBUKI☆彡: hinataaaa ( ˘ ³˘)_

_Me: whatever._

_Me: :)_

_IBUKI☆彡: HINATAAAAAA!!!!!!_

With a low laugh, he closed his phone and looked up. To his surprise, Komaeda was right in front of him, holding two beer bottles in his hands.

“How did you even get those?” Hinata asked, slightly taken back.

He shrugged with a small, knowing smile. “Lucky.” 

“And you say your talent is useless.” Hinata snickered and took one bottle from Komaeda’s hand. “Thanks.”

They watched the next couple bands from the edge of the crowd, and even Hinata couldn’t resist tapping his foot and swaying along to the music in between drinks. He liked parties, and he loved his friends, but he really wasn't a huge fan of being the center of attention. He much preferred to stand on the fringe.

It seemed Komaeda was the same way. It was strange, but it was nice to have someone on the edge with him.

In between sets, Hinata felt Komaeda lean in just a bit closer. “I usually don’t like noisy places, but I don’t really mind it here,” he said. 

“Yeah.” Hinata took a sip of his drink. He could feel Komaeda’s breath against his neck. “I feel the same way.”

They ended up going through several bands before _‘Punk-11037’_ finally started their set. Komaeda pointed out the wild-looking red-haired guy as Kuwata just before they started playing. Hinata nodded along, and he noticed with amusement that Komaeda was cheering extra-hard for this band. Kuwata was actually pretty good, Hinata decided, but he probably would have been better if he wasn’t trying so hard to show off.

Finally, their set ended - going out with a bang as Kuwata smashed his guitar against the stage. “Goodnight, Aomori!” he yelled, a wide grin on his face. “If you wanna bask in our band’s awesome rock n’ roll glory, we’ll be hangin’ out by the bar.” And with that, Kuwata jumped offstage. 

Hinata tapped Komaeda’s arm to get his attention, then tipped his head over to where Kuwata was leaning against the bar. Komaeda nodded, and Hinata stepped forwards, stumbling just a bit before righting himself. 

Komaeda let out a soft laugh. “Lightweight.”

Hinata snorted, looking at the flushed color of Komaeda’s face. “Oh, like you’re one to talk.” 

They got to the bar, Hinata pushing his way through the crowd as Komaeda followed behind him. Finally, he spotted Kuwata leaning against the bar, and he waited until he finished signing an autograph for a group of giggling girls to approach him.

“Uh, Kuwata?” Hinata called, taking a step forwards.

The guy turned towards him, waving eagerly. “Call me Leon!” 

“It’s an honor to meet you, Leon!” exclaimed Komaeda. “Your talent burns so brightly! It fills me with hope!”

While most people probably would have been weirded out by that, Leon just grinned. “Oh, you guys are fans, huh? D’you want me to autograph something? I’ll totally do it!”

“Maybe later,” Hinata cut in. “We have a question for you, actually.”

“Is it about the band name?” Leon asked excitedly. “It’s is actually _my_ name, but, like, upside down. Yeah, I know, it rules.”

_“Totally_ rules!” chimed Komaeda.

“Uh, for sure,” added Hinata. “But that... wasn’t actually my question.” 

“Oh, then it’s about the instruments, right?” Leon interrupted. “I’ll let ya in on a secret. If you're in a punk band, it doesn't matter if you can play or not!”

Hinata thought that really didn’t seem right, but he couldn’t find it in himself to contradict the other boy. “No, it’s-”

“Hey, wait. I recognize you, don’t I?” Leon said. When Hinata gestured to himself, confused, Leon shook his head. “Not you. You’re generic. Hot, but generic.”

Hinata’s face went pink. “Uh... thanks?”

“I meant _him.”_ Leon pointed at Komaeda. “You go to Hope’s Peak too, right?”

Komaeda nodded. “We both do, actually.”

Hinata whipped around to stare at him, shocked that Komaeda had actually admitted they both went to the same school without even _mentioning_ the Reserve Course.

“Dude, no way!” Leon said.

“Yes way. I’m Nagito Komaeda, and this is Hajime Hinata.”

“Komaeda…” Leon kept his gaze fixed on Komaeda before suddenly snapping his fingers. “Oh, I got it! Aren’t you the dude who tried to blow up the gym?”

Hinata’s jaw dropped even further. “You did _what?"_

“Haha, I guess I did!” Komaeda chimed, a slight nervous edge to his voice. 

But Kuwata just nodded approvingly. “That’s punk rock, dude.”

Komaeda brightened instantly at the approval of an Ultimate. “Thank you!” 

“Is this a habit of yours?” Hinata muttered to Komaeda.

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” he replied primly.

Hinata raised his eyebrows. “You blew up our _car.”_

“Only _once,”_ Komaeda protested. He was almost pouting.

Hinata turned back to Leon. “Anyways. It’s kind of a long story, but basically, we’re stranded in this city. I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you give us a ride back to Hope’s Peak?” 

Leon nodded. “Dude, I would love to!”

Hinata could barely contain his sigh of relief. “Thank you, that’s-”

"-But I can’t,” Leon said.

“What.”

“We’re on the road for another two weeks, man! The life of a musician is full of trials and tribulations to conquer. Punk never dies!” Leon glanced at them sympathetically. “Tell ya what, though. I’ll put you guys up in a room at the hotel I’m staying at. Manager’s a huge baseball fan, so I can totally get a room for you, free of charge.” 

“...Thanks, man,” Hinata said, keeping himself from sighing out loud. “That’s- that’s really cool of you.”

“Sure, dude!” Leon grinned, apparently oblivious to Hinata’s plight. “Do you want an autograph to make up for it?”

Komaeda, in fact, did want an autograph (he got Leon to sign his ticket), and he also had it in him to ask for a picture. Hinata was going to take it, but Leon insisted he was in the photo - _‘my biggest fans have got to both be here with me, dudes!’_

So Leon had tossed Hinata’s phone to some random concert-goer and pulled Hinata into the photo, right up against Komaeda. Hinata wrapped his arm around Komaeda’s waist, trying not to look awkward, and smiled for the photo.

Shortly after that, Leon heard another group of ‘fans’ calling his name, so he jumped out of the photo and waved at them. He hopped over the bar towards them, but before he left, he looked back over his shoulder at Hinata and Komaeda, flashing them a rock ‘n’ roll salute with his hand. “Rock on, dudes!”

After a moment, Hinata quickly dropped his arm from Komaeda’s waist and took a step backwards. Snatching his phone back from the stranger with a muttered _‘thank you,’_ he turned away from the bar and walked towards the door.

* * *

They left the concert venue soon after that, heading towards the hotel Leon had told them about. The city was incredible at night - light shining down from windows, stars dotting the sky, glittering ocean in the distance. Komaeda walked next to him, step-in-step, and Hinata turned towards him.

“So you really think that Leon guy can get his talent changed?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. 

“Well, it was incredible to meet him, and he was _very_ good, but… well, I’m not sure,” Komaeda hummed. “He was born with one talent, but now he’s working towards another. It’s admirable, but a part of me feels as if he's neglecting his original talent.”

Hinata shrugged. “I don’t think it matters what he’s born with. I think it matters what he tries at,” he said. “I mean, take Sonia, for example. There’s tons of princesses in the world, but Hope’s Peak chose Sonia. She’s an Ultimate because of the work and dedication she puts into her talent, not just because of the way she was born.” He swallowed. “What I’m trying to say is, maybe talent isn’t finite. And even when it is a natural gift, it’s still something you have to tap into and actually work towards.”

“...I was born lucky, so I think I’ve always just assumed everyone else must have been born with their talents, too. My talent is something I can’t control, but... I suppose it isn’t like that for most people.” Komaeda looked down. “Still, though. You have to start out with some amount of talent in order to polish it. And for someone like me, born with such a worthless talent - it’s my job to help them do just that.”

“Well, what about someone,” Hinata started carefully, hands shoved in his pockets, “someone who was born without any talent at all?”

“I- well.” Komaeda bit his lip. “I still- I mean, people can’t just _become_ talented.” He waited a good, long moment, then said, “But perhaps certain people can become… special.”

Hinata’s exhale sounded a whole lot like a sigh of relief. “Special, huh?”

“Yes.” Komaeda smiled, just a little bit, and it lit up his whole face. “Special.”

Hinata didn't say anything, just ducked his head to hide his own smile.

It was a few more blocks before they finally made it to the hotel, checking in and taking the elevator up to their room. The place was clearly more expensive than anywhere they’d stayed before - apparently Leon’s name really carried some weight around here. The TV was huge, the ceilings were vaulted, and the sheets on the bed even looked like they had ridiculously high thread counts. 

And that’s when Hinata realized it - the _bed,_ because there was, in fact, only one.

“Oh, that _jerk,”_ he muttered.

“The bed isn’t the only surprise he left us,” Komaeda said from next to the bedside table, holding up the CD case that had been sitting there. “I know what we’re listening to tomorrow.”

Hinata felt his jaw drop - apparently, Leon had given them a signed CD.

While Komaeda left for the bathroom to get ready for bed, Hinata tossed on a pair of sweatpants and collapsed against the (admittedly luxurious) mattress. He let himself relax there for a moment before pulling out his phone. Now that their first plan to get back to Tokyo had failed, he was going to have to fall back on Plan B.

He scrolled through his contacts until he found the right number, pressing the phone to his ear as he waited for the other line to pick up.

The other line clicked on, and a voice immediately asked: “What the hell do you want?”

“Nice to hear from you too, Kuzuryu,” Hinata said.

Kuzuryu snorted. “Are you coming home yet, you bastard?”

“Not even close,” said Hinata. “That’s why I need to ask a favor of you. Your family has connections all over Japan, right? Do you think you could get them to send us a car?”

“What happened to the one you hotwired?" he asked, suspicion clear in his voice. _"Illegally?”_

“Uh.” Hinata paused. “It got blown up. Please don’t ask how.”

Kuzuryu sighed loudly. “Let me get this straight. You want me to tap into my family’s incredibly dangerous crime network so I can get you a car for your road trip.”

Hinata shifted the phone awkwardly. “...Yeah?”

“Sure, okay. I’ll have one dropped off at your hotel tomorrow. Text me the address later.” 

“Thanks, man. That’s really cool of you.” Hinata let out a deep breath. “By the way, it’s _not_ a road trip.”

Kuzuryu just snickered. “Yeah, try telling Soda that.”

“I _have,”_ Hinata protested. “Seriously, though. Thank you. I mean it.”

“Whatever. It’s not a big deal. And Hinata.” He paused. “Stay safe, alright?”

“Aw, you really _do_ care,” Hinata said dryly.

"You know what? Maybe I won’t send you a car.”

“Okay, hardass. You do that.”

“Bye, dick,” Kuzuryu said, a hint of fondness sneaking into his voice.

“Bye, jerk.” Hinata hung up the phone, grinning.

He closed out of the phone app, then, after a moment of thought, opened his camera roll. The photos from the concert were all in order - there was the one he’d sent Ibuki, followed by several of him, Komaeda, and Leon taken by the random guy from the venue. But the guy had apparently kept taking photos, even after Leon had left, which meant there was one picture of _just_ Hinata and Komaeda.

He tapped on it, curious. Komaeda had one arm slung over Hinata’s shounders, the other hanging in the air where Leon had been, showing the slightly faded ink of Hinata’s name written on Komaeda’s palm. Komaeda was looking at the camera, and he was grinning like he’d just won the lottery.

Hinata considered that was probably a bad comparison, seeing as Komaeda had most likely won the lottery more times than he could count. So he’d won something else, then. Something better. For the life of him, though, Hinata couldn’t figure out what. He’d never been good with comparisons. The point was, Komaeda looked happy.

And as he looked closer at the photo, he realized that they _both_ did. His own arm was wrapped around Komaeda’s waist, pressed against his side - and he was smiling, too, wide and almost carefree. He zoomed in a bit, staring at the photo like he couldn’t take his eyes off of it.

Then he heard the bathroom door open, and he immediately turned off his phone and tossed it halfway across the room. 

“Ah- Hinata?” Komaeda was standing in the doorway, obviously confused.

Hinata stared down at his hands, because he was _also_ confused as to why he’d done that. “Uh, I called Kuzuryu!” he said quickly, hoping to cause some sort of distraction. “He’s gonna send us a car tomorrow. In the morning. Tomorrow.”

Komaeda blinked. “...That’s very generous!” he said, finally. “Helping us out on such short notice - as to be expected of someone as talented as him!”

“Good old Kuzuryu,” snorted Hinata, leaning back against the bed. “Always so _helpful.”_

He could hear Komaeda shuffle over to the other side of the bed, but he stilled at the edge for a moment. “This is… still okay, right?”

“Huh?”

“The bed thing. _Sharing.”_ Komaeda shifted from foot to foot, nervous. “I mean, I don’t want you to feel like you're obligated to, now that we're... friends, or that you can’t back out just because it’s happened before. To be completely honest, I'm surprised you aren't disgusted by it yet. Ah, do you want to back out? Do you want me to sleep in the bathtub?”

“...I don’t,” Hinata said, slightly confused. Komaeda still didn’t move, and Hinata rolled his eyes. “I _don’t_ want you to do that, Komaeda. Seriously. It’s fine.”

“Well. If you say so.” Komaeda waited for one more moment, like he was expecting Hinata to suddenly change his mind and kick him out. That didn’t happen, of course, and a second later, Komaeda climbed onto the bed.

Hinata didn’t look at him, but he registered the way the mattress dipped just slightly. There was more space between them than he’d expected, more than there had been other nights, even though Komaeda wasn’t even hanging off the edge this time. The bed really was ridiculously large.

He pushed himself up on his hands to turn off the light, then rolled back onto the bed - and if he _happened_ to be a couple inches closer to the center, it’s not like either of them would notice.

Komaeda turned towards him, just a little bit, but the rustle of the blankets gave him away. “Goodnight, Hinata.” He whispered it, even though they were the only two people in the room.

Hinata glanced over at him, only for a second. “Goodnight.” And he didn’t know why, but he’d whispered it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: *frantically googling "things to do in aomori, japan"*  
> google: "aomori contains an active volcano believed to be one of the gates to the underworld."  
> me: ????????


End file.
